


Hollow

by cipherine



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bill starts off as manipulating and revenge seeking asshole but let's see where this is going, Dipper and Mabel are 18 years old, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Shadowhunter AU, Smut, The Mortal Instruments AU, There will be fluff too, You don't have to know The Mortal Instruments series to read this, adding the violence tag just to be sure bc well there's violence, there will be drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-28 10:04:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7636018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cipherine/pseuds/cipherine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Pines family are the Nephilim warriors of Gravity Falls, half angel and half human, whose job it is to kill demons and protect ordinary human beings from them. While Stanford Pines never leaves the institute and obsesses over his research about a certain demon, Dipper, Mabel and Stanley Pines do most of the work when it comes to fighting demons.<br/>But Dipper Pines isn't exactly the brave warrior he's supposed to be. He hates fighting demons, and he envies his sister for her social skills. What happens when Mabel just won't shut up about taking her brother and parabatai along to a downworlder party?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - Rising

**Author's Note:**

> I should write more chapters before I start uploading this, hahah.  
> This is not going to be a super long work like Monsters.  
> EDIT: I THOUGHT this was not going to be another 20 chapter thing but, /fuck/, 
> 
> I've always wanted to write some sort of crossover or AU with the Mortal Instruments series. I have no idea if any of you guys know this series, but even if you don't I think you can still read this. There's only a few things that need explaining. 
> 
> Nephilim / Shadowhunters: Half angel, half human beings who hunt and kill demons. 
> 
> Downworlders: There's 4 groups; Vampires, Warlocks, The Fair Folk and Werewolves. Warlocks are half demons, while Vampires and Werewolves are just infected with demonic diseases. Vampires and Werewolves don't get along with each other too well. Warlocks are often allies of shadowhunters who pay them to make use of their magical abilities.  
> There is an alliance among Downworlders and Nephilim (This happens in the Mortal Instruments books; so, in this fanfiction the alliance is still something rather new) 
> 
> Demons: Demons can show up in all kinds of forms. They are inter-dimensional beings who travel between worlds and destroy everything in their path. They return to their home dimension, The Void, when they die. There are "greater demons" who are more powerful and have distinctive identities. 
> 
> Runes: Shadowhunters apply angelic runes to their body which grant them magic abilities and strengthen them in battle. They can make them faster, stronger, heal them and have many other uses. Some of these marks are applied to objects, some to the skin of Nephilim. 
> 
> Parabatai: Two Nephilim warriors that are bound to each other with a ritual and fight alongside each other as lifelong partners. Their bond is not only reflected in a close relationship to each other, but also by an oath sworn in front of the Council. The bond allows them to be stronger when fighting together and use additional runes other's can't. Also, parabatai can feel when the other is experiencing extreme pain or dying. Having a parabatai is not common among shadowhunters and you have only 18 years to find one. It's not allowed to be romantically involved with your parabatai. 
> 
>  
> 
> Have fun with a short prologue before the first chapter and tell me what you think!
> 
> -

* * *

 

 

The sky was dark and the air smelled of rusty old buildings. Within the darkness, two shadows were running towards what, to the mundane eye, looked like the ruins of what was once a church. To them it was their home, and it was definitely not in ruins.  
“You said it was TWO demons! And that’s a goddamn Scorpio!” Dipper Pines complained to his sister.  
Thanks to the angelic runes applied to their bodies they were faster than the five demons following them.  
“I _thought_ it was two demons! Now shut up and find a good position, I’ll go get Grunkle Stan!”  
“You’re gonna leave me alone with these?!”  
“Just hide already!”

A good position. As in, a good place to hide and take the beasts down with his bow and arrows from a safe distance.

Dipper decided that firing them from somewhere near the institute would be best. Demons never wanted to get too close to a shadowhunter institute. Though he didn’t have much time, he stopped and hurriedly applied an Agility rune to his left arm, using his stele. He gritted his teeth. No matter how often he had already done this, the burning on his skin didn’t get any better.  
Then he hurried and climbed up one of the gigantic trees around the institute. He groaned as he remembered that he would have to use a Night Vision rune in order to hit the demons with his arrows. More runes, more pain. This evening wasn’t exactly what he had in mind when he went out with his sister to watch a movie at the local cinema. Ugh, was that demon blood on his favorite pair of jeans?

He tried to stay absolutely silent while applying the next rune to his skin. It hurt like hell, but it was still better than getting killed by some low class demons. Two hellhounds, a scorpio – that one was the real problem – and two Crouchers. For some reasons, he felt like being watched, but after applying the rune he could clearly see the demons in the distance. He counted four. Where did the other hellhound go?  
“Well they sure don’t climb up trees,” he murmured, taking aim.  
But he waited for a sign of Mabel and Stanley showing up.

Then he saw something strange. Somewhere in the distance, something yellow glowed in the darkness. An… eye?

“DIPPER! NOW!”

He shrieked and his eyes quickly searched for Mabel’s location. There she was, fighting the hellhounds. Where was Stanley?  
One of the smaller demons tried to attack his sister from behind, but Dipper was faster. His arrow pierced into the demons back and made it easy for Mabel to sever it’s head from the body with one clean cut of her seraph blade. Finally he could see Stanley, busy with taking on the scorpio demon. The demon had two mouths with razor sharp teeth and a massive scaled, lizard-like body, with a stinging poisoned tail. These creatures were much more dangerous than the other ones. Mabel could take on the hellhounds alone. Which left two croucher demons for Dipper. They were mostly his job because while these little shits were weak, they were able to fly.  
  
Unlike his sister, Dipper Pines hated fighting demons.

Another arrow cut through the darkness with a singing sound and took down one of the flying demons. The creature screamed with a shrill and distorted sounding voice and then it fell, unable to move.  
Now that was a good one, but where was number two?  
Dipper got nervous. Despite his night vision rune, he couldn’t see or hear the second one anywhere. Did Mabel already take it down? She was so much more talented at this than he was. He was only good with bow and arrow, but whenever a demon got too close to him he had a serious problem.  
Speak of the devil, it was right behind him.

Dipper screamed.  
“MABEL! HELP!” he yelled before jumping of the tree. He cursed as he didn’t land on his feet and hurt his right knee. Hissing at the pain, he quickly looked around for the bird-like demon that was about to attack him. It came closer, slowly, and Dipper crawled away until his back hit another tree. He tried to take aim again, but it was too late. The beast’s teeth cut his arrow in two before he could shoot it. Dipper took a deep breath, trembling as tears of fear started to gather in his eyes. He didn’t have a seraph sword with him. The thing was about to bite his goddamn head off.  
_Mabel…!_

And then not Dipper’s, but the demon’s head was severed from it’s body and sent flying.  
Stanley was out of breath but still looked like he could easily kill another 50 demons. “You okay there, kid?” he asked, not turning around to face him just in case there was another one of these annoying beasts.  
“Y-yeah. Thanks,” Dipper stuttered and got up from the ground.  
“You did good, Dipper,” Stanley said once he was sure that this had been the last demon attacking them.  
Dipper knew that while he maybe did ‘good’, it just wasn’t good enough. A shadowhunter his age should already be prepared and skilled when it came to close range battle with demons, but he wasn’t. He was scared. What a joke – A shadowhunter scared of demons!

“That was AWESOME!” Mabel yelled from the entrance of the institute where she had fought the hellhounds. She had a big smile on her face and her hands and clothes were covered with demon ichor. Dipper sighed. Why couldn’t hunting demons be as much fun for him as it was for his sister?  
“Easy there, Mabes! Geez, you need a shower,” Stanley laughed and hit her on the shoulder, “You really kicked those beasts sorry asses! Proud of you, darling.”  
_Proud of you._  
Dipper would love to hear these words, too.   
He quickly shook his head to get rid of the bad thoughts. He didn’t need those today. And hey, he took down one of them, even if Mabel finished it. That’s something! Or so he tried to tell himself.

“Alright, what’s for dinner?”  
“Mabel, you had like three bags of popcorn earlier. Besides, it’s almost midnight!”  
“MIDNIGHT SNACK IT IS!”

Dipper smiled. His sister was one of a kind.

His night vision rune still worked, and he looked around one more time before entering the institute after his family. But the glowing yellow or golden eye he had noticed earlier was nowhere to be seen. Must have been his imagination.


	2. Invitation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mabel convinces her brother to accompany her to a downworlder party.  
> Dipper is not amused.

* * *

   
  
“Mabel, listen,” Dipper said for the hundredth time, “I’m just not the type of guy to show up at a party, okay?” 

“But Dippeeeeer,” his sister went on, “that’s exactly why you have to go to a party – to _become_ that kind of guy!”

They had been arguing like that for a while.  
It’s not like Dipper hated fun or anything, he was just scared of messing up about every single conversation he might or might not have at said party. Social skills? Not his specialty, nuh-uh. Usually ends with the other person either not understanding what he was trying to say, or getting bored and ending the conversation before Dipper could even form a sentence.  
And besides, Dipper knew exactly what kind of parties his twin sister and parabatai usually went to. And he was in no mood to deal with downworlders when he wasn’t even strong enough to protect himself in up close battle.  
  
While there was an alliance among the main four groups of downworlders and the shadowhunters, things weren’t all that peaceful in smaller towns like Gravity Falls. The Clave – political top of all shadowhunter business – didn’t care much for small violations of the law happening outside the City of Glass, Alicante.  
Dipper has never even been to Idris, the home of their kind – the Nephilim. Half angel, half human, damned to fight demons and protect mundane human beings from getting eaten alive or worse. Protecting them from things they weren’t even able to see. Dipper tried to be proud of his existence, but it often seemed more like a curse. 

Now demons were one thing, downworlders were another. Downworlders were mostly vampires, faeries, werewolves and warlocks. They used to be the enemies of the Nephilim, but well, a lot of stuff happened – A war in which they had to fight alongside each other – and today there was an alliance. Only the Fair Folk betrayed the Nephilim and lost their seat in the council and a lot of their rights due to that.  
Happily ever after? As if.  
Lots of downworlders despised the so-called alliance and a lot of them were nothing but trouble-makers. Mainly the vampires were, due to their natural urge of wanting to drink human blood. Animal blood is fine for some of them, but a lot of them still wanted to live the ‘old school’ way.  
And Dipper’s job also included protecting innocent humans from getting sucked dry of blood by some immature teenage biting machines who still thought the world would rotate the other way one day, bringing back the good old bloody times. 

Back to the topic -  
His sister wanted him to go to a party, and the chance of said immature downworlders at this party was about 90%. Maybe 95. Dipper really didn’t feel like killing anyone or getting killed, and that chance was about 25% at any of those parties. Many of the Gravity Falls downworlders did not like the Pines family. 

Why did Mabel not have a problem with that?  
Well, they were actually _scared_ of her. Mabel Pines was not exactly the shadowhunter in Gravity Falls you should mess with. Most of the downworlders respected her. 

"I'm not even invited," he groaned. 

"But I am, that's enough. And come on Dipper, aren’t you like… lonely sometimes?” Mabel asked bluntly, and her brother’s face turned tomato-red. 

“MABEL!” 

“I knew it!” 

“I’m not lonely!” Dipper sighed and turned his blushing face away from her.  
“Talking to someone at a party is already hard enough, now you expect me to flirt, too? I might look kinda like you, but I’m _not_ you!” 

“But you gotta get out there for once,” she giggled, “Maybe you’ll find something other than your pillow to hug at night.” 

“SHUT UP!”

“You know I’m right.”

Well, yeah, she was.  
Dipper whined and buried his burning face in his hands. Damn it, yes, maybe he was a tiny little bit lonely. Maybe he was a tiny little bit jealous of his sister’s many relationships. Well, not of her countless break ups of course. 

“Mabel, I can’t do this. And I know that there’s lots of downworlders at those parties you usually go to. You know that I can’t defend myself unless I go there with my bow!” 

“They won’t let you in with that. But a simple seraph blade should be fine. Apply some runes, just in case, and it’ll all turn out a-okay! Also, I’ll be right behind you!” 

Dipper groaned. As if she would stay right behind him all the time. He could already see himself getting lost there within a few minutes, spending the rest of the night looking for his sister and trying to not get robbed, beaten up or killed.  
“What do I have to do so you’ll leave me alone about this?” 

Mabel grinned.  
“Just one party, Dipper. If you don’t like it I’ll never ask you to come along again, alright?” 

“We both know you’ll do it again.” 

“Hush now and get ready!” 

There was no arguing with his parabatai.  
Sighing deeply, he got up from his bed and to his closet, thinking about what to wear. Definitely not his black shadowhunter gear, and definitely not something as bright and colorful as his sister’s dress.  
“I’m blaming you if someone kills me tonight,” Dipper said while grabbing a pair of average dark jeans and a t-shirt. He considered leaving a note on his desk that just said 'it's Mabel's fault' in case something bad happened. But, nah.   
  
Mabel ripped the t-shirt from his hands and tossed it on the bed.  
“At least wear a pretty shirt, dipping sauce. And if you end up going home with a stranger it won’t be my fault.”  
She blew him a kiss and Dipper stuck out his tongue.  
  
“I have absolutely no idea what makes you so sure that anyone there would think of me as attractive,” he grumbled.  
  
“How about this: You’re just as good looking as I am. Twin-power!”  
  
“And how’s being your sidekick and male copy supposed to make me feel better about myself?” Dipper complained, but smiled a little.  
  
“Aw, shut up Dipper. I know plenty of folks who would be into you. You really are good looking, okay?” 

It felt kinda weird to hear a compliment like that from his sister.  
“Yeesh, alright, thanks. Never say something like that again, it’s embarrassing.” 

 

* * *

 

Just two hours later Dipper already regretted his decision.  
As expected, his sister had already left him alone within about a hundred downworlders, some humans who were unable to see that they were among monsters, and only one other shadowhunter at a party he didn’t even know the host of. Who did Mabel say it was, again? And since when did other shadowhunters ever visit Gravity Falls? While the town wasn’t all that small it was still unusual for strangers to show up here. Dipper had recognized the other Nephilim by his scars in forms of angelic runes. Not that it mattered who he was, the guy just seemed to be having a good time. Unlike Dipper. 

Where, by the angel, was Mabel? 

The party was in an old unused building that was usually the home to most of the town’s vampires. So the host was probably a vampire, too. Dipper felt more than just a little uneasy, but seeing a lot of warlocks around calmed him a little. Most of them took the alliance very seriously and, in most cases, sided with the Nephilim. Dipper took a deep breath.  
_Stay cool and just try to enjoy yourself._  
He decided to get a drink since he couldn’t find Mabel. 

The barkeeper smiled and showed off his pointy fangs when Dipper ordered a cocktail. He had black, messy hair and he was as pale as the white wall behind him.   
“What an _honor_ to serve a new Nephilim face around here. Are you by any chance related to Mabel Pines?” The vampire asked while preparing Dipper’s order,  
“You look an awful lot like her.”  
“Twins,” Dipper muttered, “You know my sister?”  
“Oh, please,” the other said with a knowing grin on his face, “Everyone knows your sister. Especially since she cut off Cole’s left arm because he tried to bite her when she broke up with him.”  
Dipper swallowed hard. She’s had a vampire boyfriend?  
  
“I can’t say I know anyone named Cole,” he said, avoiding eye contact.  
The damn vampire just wouldn’t stop grinning like that.  
“A jerk who deserved it despite being one of us. Y’know, most of us still like your sister. She’s got style. I just hope for your sake that you will manage to fit in, too. You seem kinda… adorable, if I dare say so. I bet you taste as sweet as cotton candy.”  
Dipper fought against the blush that tried to take over his face. He sure hoped this vampire wasn’t hungry or anything. His hands were trembling a little when he finally grabbed his drink and took a sip.  
“I’ll be fine, no need to worry. See you later,” he said, quickly disappearing into the masses. _By the angel, Mabel, please don’t leave me hanging._  
  
And then he ran into someone, literally. 

And of course he spilled his drink all over that someone.  
_This is it_ , he thought, Dipper Pines, _get ready to die._  

He carefully looked up. In front of him was a seemingly confused tall young man with short blonde hair and a soaking wet white shirt. He only had one eye, the other being covered by a fancy eyepatch. Neat. His one eye had slit pupils like a cat’s and glowed golden like the sun. For a moment, Dipper was absolutely sure that this was the eye he had seen the other night while fighting off the demons.  
A warlock?  
“S-sorry, I’m really sorry!” Dipper stuttered.  
“Well that’s unfortunate,” the warlock answered with a quite displeased voice, “Though most of the people here probably wouldn’t mind, I’d prefer not to take my shirt off right now. Yeesh, that smells like lots of sugar with almost no alcohol. Disgusting.”  
Then he looked down at Dipper, studying his face.  
“Would you look at that, it’s the other Pines twin! I only ever see your sister at parties like that. Well, I can see why,” he said and laughed a little.  
Dipper wanted to die. 

“I’m sorry, again, I just—uh… Can I pay you a drink to make up for this, or something?” Dipper quickly said, not thinking about how this might sound.  
The warlock grinned.  
“Sure, why not.” 

Back to the bar and the grinning vampire barkeeper, he let the warlock order something for both of them, not caring what it was and just quietly paying for it. Get it together, Dipper, he thought, might as well make this the first real conversation tonight. 

“I saw you fight the other day,” the warlock surprised him by starting the conversation, “Against those crouchers. Flying little shits. You did good taking them down.” 

“You were there?” Dipper asked and the suspicion of this guy being the glowing eye in the darkness grew stronger. 

He smiled at him. For some reason it made Dipper nervous and his stomach started to feel weird.  
“You probably noticed me anyways, didn’t you? By the way, the name’s Bill.”  
“So that glowing eye I saw from the distance, that was you? I’m Dipper. Pines, as you know. What’s… your last name?”  
“Wraith. Bill Wraith.”  
Dipper’s face went white. Wraith? Wasn’t that the name Mabel had said when telling him who- Oh no.  
“You’re the host of the party! Oh, by the angel, I’m so sorry again for ruining your shirt! And by someone you didn’t even invite- damn it, I owe you one,” he hurriedly said, blushing as Bill smiled again and made him feel the warmth taking over his cheeks.  
“It’s okay, kid. Don’t break your cute little head over this.”  
  
What was it with people at this party calling him cute, adorable and the like? He was eighteen! Okay, maybe he still didn’t really grow a beard yet and maybe he kind of had the baby face of his sister, but still, he wasn’t a child…!  
  
“A-anyways,” Dipper stuttered and cursed himself for acting like that, “It’s a really nice party. Thanks for uh, having me here.”  
Great.  
The big L for loser was probably written all over his forehead.  
But Bill just laughed and nodded, taking a sip of his drink. “It’s been pretty fun so far, but things can always get… better,” he said, licking his lips for a moment.  
Dipper flinched.  
Was that warlock actually… flirting with him, or something? Not that Dipper would mind, because damn, this guy was attractive as hell, but at the same time he wouldn’t even know what to DO if this was the case!  

“Ehrm… I thought this place belonged to the vampires?” he quickly tried to change the topic. 

“Oh yes, their leader is a good friend of mine. Pacifica, you probably know her, right?”  
Of course Dipper did. Everyone knew Pacifica Northwest, probably the most popular girl among all the downworlders of Gravity Falls. And a stuck up bitch, most of the time.  

“Yeah. So, you wanted to throw a party for no reason and asked the vampires to clear their basement to do so?” 

Bill laughed out loud and decided to empty his glass in one shot.  
“Oh, but there’s a reason, you see – it’s my birthday.” 

WHY did Mabel never tell him important things like that?! 

“Oh boy,” Dipper said, “This is just getting more and more embarrassing. I swear, my sister didn’t tell me, she just dragged me here for no reason. A-anyways, Happy Birthday! I guess.” 

“Thank you. Who’d have thought, there’s a Nephilim with manners in this town,” Bill answered and this time his grin seemed to go from one ear to another. And it made Dipper blush again, harder than before. 

“I- I’ll be right back! Toilet,” he excused himself in a wave of panic, rushing through the masses once again. 

Oh by the angel, how did this happen to him? This was probably the most embarrassing situation he could’ve ended up with! And WHY did this damn Bill Wraith have to be so freaking attractive, too? Was he flirting with him or not? How would Dipper be able to tell when he’s never really flirted with anyone before, ever?  
  
Of course he didn’t really have to use the toilet, just wanted to wash his face and look in the mirror for a moment to make sure he wasn’t blushing too hard. He took a deep breath, staring at himself.  
“Dipper Pines, you’ll go out there and have a normal conversation with this guy. Don’t. Freak. Out.” 

“I’d pay to see you ‘freak out’, dear. I’m sure that would be fun.” 

Dipper almost screeched, but then he turned around seemingly ready to fight whoever dared to scare him like that. To his surprise it was the vampire that had worked at the bar earlier.  
“Was that necessary?” Dipper asked.  
He was uneasy around this guy. He’d been uneasy around Wraith too, but vampires were always worse. He subconsciously let his hand wander to where his seraph blade should have been. Yes, should have been, because he had just realized that it wasn’t there anymore.  
“Looking for something, shadowhunter?” The vampire asked, tilting his head and smiling innocently.  
This little shit.  
“Did you steal my weapon? You know that you can’t use it, right? What do you even want?”  
Dipper had a vague idea of what this guy wanted, but he refused to believe that it was another one of these Bad-Luck-Dipper days.

Too bad, it was.  
  
Dipper’s back crashed against the wall as he prayed for someone to walk in. Why didn’t anyone walk in?! There were so many people at this party, how could it be that right in this moment absolutely no one had to use the toilet?  
He was completely defenseless without his blade. Why the hell hadn’t he noticed this earlier? When did it happen? While he’d been talking to Bill, maybe?  
“I heard,” the vampire whispered against his ear, licking his lips, “That drinking shadowhunter blood can make one of us a daylighter. A vampire who can walk in broad daylight and doesn’t have to hide in the shadows… The others don’t think much of someone like that, but to me it actually sounds good. So let’s try that, hm? Just a tiny little bite…”  
And with that last word, his fangs were visible and he was ready to sink them into Dipper’s neck, who started to struggle at full force and tried to ram his knee into the vampire’s stomach. But the asshole was stronger.  
“HELP!” Dipper finally shouted as he realized that he couldn’t save himself. He almost broke free of the other’s grip but then he heard him laugh and say something about how he wasn’t going to kill him. _Just a tiny little bite_. He could feel the vampires breath against his sensitive skin. His stomach turned. He almost wanted to role his eyes about his own misfortune, but well, he was seriously scared. 

And then finally someone came in.  
Before Dipper even realized it, that someone pulled the damn vampire away from him and successfully kicked him in the stomach. The asshole went down with a hissing sound.  
“Arrgh…! What gives, Wraith?!” The vampire coughed out.  
And Dipper almost wanted to roll his eyes again at how he kept making himself look like the biggest failure. Of _course_ it was Bill showing up to save him! Who else? For a moment, Dipper thought that his life would make a really great sitcom. Next time on ’18 and Miserable’…  
  
“He’s my guest,” Bill growled. His expression was pure anger and it scared Dipper for a moment. The guy had seemed so laid-back and friendly earlier – this was an entirely new side to the coin that was Bill Wraith.  
“And I’d rather not have scum like you bite my guests on my fucking birthday,” Bill went on, “So kindly go bite yourself for all I care, and leave him alone.”  
_What a knight in shining armor_ , Dipper thought.   
“Y’all are no fun,” the vampire complained, still whining from the pain in his stomach.  
Bill grinned.  
“Oh, I can be _very_ funny, would you like to have a taste?” He said and suddenly his hands were on fire. The poor guy’s face turned whiter than it already was and he quickly shook his head, cursing and getting up to run out of the bathroom. Vampires hated fire as much as daylight.  
  
Dipper coughed.  
Awkward situation.  
  
“Here. Pretty sure you lost this,” Bill suddenly said and handed him his seraph blade. Dipper eyes widened. Had he actually lost the blade?! Oh, by the angel, this evening couldn’t possibly get any worse!  
“Thank you…” he murmured. He didn’t know what else to say. But that was okay, because Bill seemed to be the kind of guy who would always do most of the talking, as he did right now.  
“I’m terribly sorry for his behavior, some of my guests are still rather… immature for their age.”  
Hah-hah. For their age. That vampire was probably about 200 years old. For a moment, Dipper got curious about Bill’s age. He seemed like a very experienced and old warlock. Of course he barely looked like 25.  
“Why aren’t you at the bar?”  
“I saw him follow you. His shift just ended.”  
“And you just assumed that he would try to bite me?”  
“I did, because I know this guy. He’s famous for bragging about having had shadowhunter blood, which is obviously a lie. He tried to bite your sister once, I probably don’t have to explain to you how that ended for him.” 

Hm. Seemed legit.  
He just still couldn't quite believe where this evening without Mabel had led him.  
“Well… thanks again. But, I’m sorry, if you’ll excuse me now Bill, I… I have to find my sister,” Dipper said, biting his lip. He kinda wanted to stay with Bill, but his brain screamed no, and it was time to listen to the little guy in his head – not the one in his pants.  
“Sure thing. Maybe we’ll meet again later, or some other day. I sure hope so, Dipper Pines... Goodbye.”  
Dipper wanted to punch the sexy smile out of his stupid attractive face.  
Stupid warlock! Stupid party! And damn his hormones! 

As soon as the young shadowhunter was gone, the vampire showed up again, and without a word Bill handed him a stack of money behind his back. He smiled as he thought about how surprisingly easy it would be to get close to Dipper Pines. 

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dipper assumes that Bill is a warlock because of his cat-like eye. All warlocks have some sort of animalistic body part, that can be claws or wings or anything. For the people who know TMI, I know cat-eyes are Magnus' thing, but it fits Bill so well that I couldn't come up with anything else.


	3. Approach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper learns more about the man who saved his ass last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone and sorry for not updating in what probably feels like forever, hahah.   
> No really, I'm sorry, but I was really busy with cosplay stuff for an upcoming con.   
> And I don't know how often I'll able to update in the future, but I'll definitely keep the story alive.

* * *

 

The rest of the party went surprisingly well for Dipper the moment he actually found Mabel, and she stayed with him for the rest of the night. Dipper was surprised that he actually had fun. Mabel was around some downworlder friends of hers and the other shadowhunter. Her friends were actually pretty cool. Dipper got to know a fairy named Candy and a werewolf girl named Grenda, apparently some of Mabel’s best friends and just about as crazy as his sister.   
And by the time he met Bill again, he was way too drunk to even get flustered about it. 

Yes, Bill Wraith showed up one more time and decided to invite all of Mabel’s friends - and Dipper, of course - for a drink. It was honestly the last thing Dipper remembered from the party. 

How the hell did they even get home? 

„Good morning. My head hurts like hell!“ Mabel whined as she walked into Dipper’s room without knocking, two cups of coffee in her hands. She gave one of them to her brother. 

„Thanks,“ he groaned as he slowly got up from his bed and took the cup. 

„What even happened before we went home?“ She asked and giggled a little.

„Oh, you don’t remember? I don’t know, you were like, really busy making out with Pacifica Northwest…“ 

„I did WHAT?! EW! TOOTHPASTE, TOOTHPASTE!“ 

She ran out of the room and Dipper laughed out loud.   
He followed her into the bathroom, leaning against the wall with a smug grin on his face.   
„Didn’t know you were into girls, too,“ he teased. 

Mabel furiously brushed her teeth and spat into the sink as if her spit was poisoned. 

„Oh yeah? Didn’t know YOU were into guys, Dipdop…“ 

He paled.   
„Err… What?“ 

„Seriously, Dipper, Bill fucking Wraith gave you his number?“ 

„He did WHAT?!“ 

She turned around to face him, raising an eyebrow.   
„It fell out of your pockets and I picked it up. When I woke up I thought it was mine for a second and let me tell you, I would have been the happiest girl in the world. How in the angels name did you get Wraith to flirt with you?“ 

Dipper’s face turned more and more red with every word his sister said.   
_When did he…?!_

„I— I didn’t know about this, and…“ 

„Yeah, yeah,“ Mabel said, „Bill Wraith, the hot, popular and rich warlock sure gives his phone number to just anyone out there. Sweetie, I’d be dating the guy if it was that easy. So what did you do?“ 

He was speechless. How was he supposed to react to this? Popular? Rich? Why would anyone like that, let alone someone as attractive as that guy had been, be interested in him?! 

„I… spilled my drink all over his shirt and he kinda saved me from a vampire attack…?“ 

„Someone tried to bite you?“ Mabel’s expression darkened, „Who was it? Do I have to chop another vampires arm off?“   
Oh dear, so that story was apparently true. 

„N-no, it’s fine, nothing happened really! Chill, Mabes,“ he quickly said, raising both his hands, „Bill scared the guy away and that was it.“ 

Mabel groaned.   
„Wow. Wraith really likes you. I can’t believe this is happening.“ 

„Oh yeah? Yesterday you sounded pretty confident about my looks,“ Dipper defended himself, pouting a little. 

„Dipper, no offense, but you’re nowhere as attractive as Wraith.“   
_Geez, thanks._  
  
He really needed breakfast. The coffee cup was already empty.   
He needed something to eat and a lot of time to think. Wraith left him his number? How cheesy. What kind of teenage comedy show did his life suddenly turn into, just because he went to ONE of those parties? Was Mabel exaggerating about Wraith? What kind of guy was he really, aside from being a nice, attractive, popular rich guy who likes to save helpless Nephilim from getting bitten by a vampire? Should he actually text him?  
Questions, questions and more questions.   
He needed a whole lot of coffee. 

On their way to the kitchen they ran into Stanford, who was about to go back to his library.   
„Morning Ford,“ Dipper said and smiled a little. His great uncle just nodded and went by without a word.   
„You’re trying too hard, Dipper,“ Mabel grumbled.   
„Come on, Mabes. He’s not as bad as you think.“   
Stanford Pines never left the institute and spent most of his time in his library, all day, every day. Dipper was the only one allowed to disturb his studies sometimes, but only because he showed honest interest in it. Stanford studied all kinds of demons and his research made him an important name among fellow Nephilim professors. Fighting didn’t seem to be his specialty. Though, Dipper could be wrong about that, as he’d never seen Stanford fight before. 

Dipper would love to just quit battling demons and study them instead, together with his great uncle. 

„Morning Grunkle Stan,“ Mabel yawned as they entered the kitchen, and Stanley looked up from the newspaper he was reading. 

„Morning? Yeesh, you two, it’s nearly time for lunch! And if you dare to call me one more time at 3 am to pick you up from the vampire basement because you’re both drunk as hell, you’re grounded!“   
He tried to sound angry, but all of them knew that Stanley hadn’t been any better in his younger years. Actually, he wasn’t even any better today. 

„Oh, so that’s how we got home,“ Dipper murmured and grabbed some milk and cereal. 

„You don’t even remember? I swear, if your parents were still around…“   
  
Dipper and Mabel never really got to know their parents. Victoria and Alexander Pines died in battle when both of the kids were just 2 years old. Only their great uncles remembered them and sometimes told the young twins their stories. They had been heroes, Stanley always said, preventing a war from happening by taking on a demon army, together with both him and Stanford.   
Dipper couldn’t even imagine something like that. Of course, it wasn’t just four Pines against an entire army, they had help from the clave. A strong greater demon had tried to open a rift between their and the demon’s dimension, a gateway to quickly gather an army of demons and unleash them over the world. The demon almost succeeded, but the Nephilim - with the help of downworlders as well - had been stronger. The war was short, but bloody, and there were many victims. But they prevented the worst, and that’s what mattered. Stanley always said that both their parents had known exactly what it meant to be a shadowhunter. 

„Hey Grunkle Stan, guess what, Dipper almost got laid!“ 

„MABEL!“ 

Their great uncle almost spit out his coffee.   
„No way!“ he yelled and hit Dipper on the back, hard, „I knew ya got it boy! There’s gotta be some of my DNA in there!“ 

„I didn’t— Oh, by the angel, both of you shut up!“   
He could feel the heat in his cheeks, but it was less because of the conversation. It was because Mabel’s words had ripped his mind from thinking about his parents back to thinking about Bill.   
He sighed deeply as he sat down to have his breakfast.   
„What do you even know about Bill?“ he asked with his mouth full. 

„What I know about him? Well, let’s see… I know that I don’t exactly have a chance with him, everyone knows he’s not into girls. A shame. And people say he sleeps around a lot, so I was lying about it being hard to get into his pants - I guess _staying_ there is the really hard part,“ she said, slurping coffee. 

Dippers eye twitched and he was sure his face must have looked like a tomato when he said,   
„I meant what you know about him as a person. As a warlock. Who _is_ he? I’m not interested in who and how many people he sleeps with, thanks.“ 

„Don’t you remember Nathaniel Wraith?“ 

Nathaniel Wraith?   
It was too early for Dipper’s mind to work quickly. Nathaniel Wraith, of course. A guy related to the Northwest family and just about as rich, but human. As human as the rest of the Northwests except for Pacifica, who they lost to a vampire’s bite god knows how long ago. But Nathaniel Wraith had just been an ordinary human except for the fact that he had lived in a Mansion. Dipper knew that he had died of cancer. 

„Are you saying that Bill is related to Nathaniel Wraith?“ he asked. 

„His son, apparently.“ 

„But Wraith was human!“ 

„Yeah, and what do we know about the sexual preferences of humans with warlock children?“ 

Oh yeah, that.   
A warlock was born from the intercourse of a human and a demon. 

„They say it was a succubus or something like that. I don’t know if it’s true, but I wouldn’t be surprised, Bill sure looks like someone who’s mother is a succubus. The demon could also be the real reason for Nathaniel’s death, not everyone believes the cancer thing. Anyways, Bill has been studying abroad and returned to Gravity Falls when he heard about his father’s death. And he stayed. That’s all I know,“ Mabel said. 

„I knew the old Wraith. He was weird,“ was all Grunkle Stan had to add to the discussion, too busy with his newspaper. Dipper was very, very surprised that he didn’t question anything about the fact that a _guy_ was hitting on his nephew. Being homosexual wasn’t exactly tolerated by the clave, even if there had been some progress in the past years. Dipper was pretty sure that he was bisexual, but he had never told anyone about it. He didn’t know whether this counted as a coming out or not.

He quietly ate up his cereal.   
So Bill was the heir of the Wraith Mansion and perhaps the son of a female incubus. That explained a lot, but not everything. Especially not why Bill had been watching him fight that one night. Could it be that Bill had been stalking him?

„One more question,“ Dipper said, „What’s with his right eye?“

Mabel shrugged.   
„No one knows.“ 

 

* * *

 

Dipper would have loved to spend the rest of the day playing video games, but there was another demon alarm. Nothing too big; Mabel could’ve taken on both of them alone, but Grunkle Stan insisted that Dipper should go with her. Of course he did. Stan wanted him to become stronger and to overcome his fear. But it wasn’t that easy. He was fine, as long as he was in a safe distance with his bow in his hands. He might fail at using most other weapons, but with his bow he was still a serious threat to any demon. And, thanks to the distance, he was less scared to actually use his weapon.   
  
The fight was over very quickly. Mabel even complained that it was just two weak demons and nothing bigger to fight against. Dipper gladly returned to the institute, only to run into Ford, who asked him to get some books for him that he ordered at the local library. 

And so, late afternoon, Dipper went to the library in order to get Ford’s books and also to maybe find something new to read for himself. He loved reading as much as he loved video games. With the difference that he was good at reading and writing, and bad at playing video games. Mabel always beat him. _Damn you, Mabel._   
„Hi,“ he talked to the woman at the counter of the library, „I’m here to pick up some books that were ordered by Stanford Pines. Here’s the number of the order.“   
He shoved a piece of paper with a combination of numbers to the lady. She smiled a really forced smile, muttered something like „one moment please“ and disappeared into a room behind the counter.   
  
Since he had to wait, Dipper pulled out his phone and checked it for messages. He didn’t have many friends in real life who would text him, but he knew a bunch of people all over the world online. As he checked for messages, he eyed Bill’s name in his phone. Yes, he had actually saved the number. But he hadn’t texted him and he sure as hell wouldn’t call. He wasn’t even sure why he had saved the number at all.   
But maybe he should? 

He started to chew on his lower lip.   
Didn’t he actually want to meet Bill again? For some reason, Dipper would love to find out more about the warlock. But was that all? Or was he developing a crush? On someone he only met once? _Come on, Dipper,_ he thought, _your life isn’t a Disney movie._ Maybe Bill was enchanting him somehow. Maybe he really was part incubus.   
He quickly shook his head, but then his curiosity won.   
Why not. Just to ask him a few questions. And wouldn’t it be rude not to text him at all? 

_[4:34pm]  
It’s really 2004 to leave me your number like that. You could’ve just looked me up on facebook instead. Greetings, Dipper Pines_

Yeah, that was good. Don’t act shy or embarrassed about it, just a normal conversation. 

But then a message sound went of around the corner right as his message was sent, and Dipper paled. Oh god, no. It couldn’t be— 

His phone beeped.   
_[4:36pm]  
I like it old school. Also, hello, I can see you~ :)_

Right, JUST his luck! 

Dipper turned around and saw Bill happily waving at him from a table where he had been reading all this time. He hadn’t noticed the warlock there when he came in, at all. Dipper blushed a little as he waved back.   
„H-hi Bill. Nice to see you again,“ he said, just loud enough for him to hear. 

The warlock grinned.   
„I’ll happily add you on facebook if that’s what you prefer.“   
Bill closed his book and got up from his chair. He came closer, smiling.   
  
„Err… it’s uh, it’s fine, really,“ Dipper stuttered and cursed himself immediately, „I didn’t expect you here.“   
Bill was now in front of him and greeted him with a quick embrace. It surprised Dipper, but well, they did get to know each other the day before, so he guessed it was normal. He shivered a little at the touch. Bill’s bright cat eye staring down at him felt like his very soul was being stripped down for everyone to see. He couldn’t tell whether he was fascinated or uncomfortable.   
„I didn’t expect to run into you here, either.“   
_Or did you_? Dipper thought, still kinda suspecting him of stalking.  
But that was paranoid nonsense, right? 

„Thanks again for yesterday,“ Dipper shyly said, „Y’know. The vampire thing. I don’t know how that would’ve ended for me if you wouldn’t have showed up.“   
Dipper was so, so embarrassed about it, but he still needed to thank Bill properly. 

„No problem, Pine Tree.“ 

„Pine Tree?“ 

Bill smiled and flicked Dipper’s hat. Oh, right, there was a Pine Tree on there.   
„Just referring to you as ‚Pines‘ implies that you’re just _any_ Pines.“ 

_So I’m not just any Pines? What, am I special or something?_  
Dipper blushed. Hold on, was Bill doing the thing again? The flirting thing? Was he?   
_Someone send help._

The warlock tilted his head and laughed a little.   
„You’re adorable.“ 

„Don’t call me that…“ Dipper muttered. 

„Your books, Mister.“   
He was actually relieved when the counter lady showed up again, with Stanford’s books. 

„Running errands?“ Bill asked and curiously eyed the titles. 

„Yeah. For my great uncle.“ 

„Ah, Stanford Pines. The local expert on demonology. My father used to work with him sometimes.“ 

Dipper put the books in a huge bag he brought with him and turned around again to face Bill.   
„Really? Your father was Nathaniel Wraith, right? Was he human or not?“   
  
„Yes, he was. But he knew all about demons and shadowhunters and the like. He had the sight,“ Bill answered. Humans with the sight were able to see all the supernatural things ordinary human beings couldn’t. 

„And your mother?“ 

„Let’s save that question for some other time, shall we?“ 

_Some other time?_  
„So you’re saying we’ll meet again?“   
  
The warlock smiled like sunshine and Dipper felt his heart beat a tad faster. Everything about Bill seemed to shine - from his hair and eye to his bright and fascinating smile.   
„I hope so, Pine Tree. I really do.“

 


	4. Message from:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper finds that texting Bill is a fun thing to do in his free time.

* * *

  
Dipper Pines stared at his phone.   
He tried to resist, but soon enough he told himself something along the lines of _„aw, fuck it“_ , and answered Bill’s new text. They were now communicating through the facebook messenger. Earlier, he had checked Bill’s facebook pictures and whatever other information there was. Many pictures of parties, a whole lot of selfies - and _damn_ , did he look good in those - and of course his relationship status was single, looking for guys. Dipper was still convinced that this dreamy guy hitting on him was just a huge prank set up by some kind of reality TV show. 

_[Bill]  
Hey there, Pine Tree. Watcha doing?  <3_

Dipper had been staring at the words for what felt like hours and especially at that little heart at the end of the message. Until he had finally convinced himself to casually answer, 

_[Dipper]  
Hey. Not much. Reading, most of the time. You?_

That answer didn’t imply anything… wrong, did it?   
Just a casual chat. After all, he didn’t want to be rude.   
One of the many excuses he tried to fool himself with.

_[Bill]  
That doesn’t sound too exciting. I’m not much of a reading person, though I do respect the art of writing. _

_[Dipper]  
What do you do in your free time, then? And if you don’t like books, what were you doing in the library?_

_[Bill]  
I was looking up a book I need for an exam. And well, studying aside, I prefer movies and the theatre over reading. _

Dipper loved the theatre. For a moment he thought of going to the theatre with Bill, but he quickly shook his head, his cheeks slightly reddened. 

_[Dipper]  
What are you studying? I like theatre, too. As long as it’s not musicals. _

_[Bill]  
Blasphemy! Musicals are the best part! _

_[Bill]  
Oh, and it’s archaeology._

_[Dipper]  
You wouldn’t want to hear any singing for a long time if you’d live with my sister._

Even now, he could hear her singing at the top of her lungs. It was horrible. As always.

_[Bill]  
Not a fan of music at all, then?_

_[Dipper]  
I like classical music. _

_[Bill]  
What a coincidence, me too ;) _

_[Dipper]  
Would you stop that?_

_[Bill]  
Stop what? _

Dipper hesitated. He still wasn’t sure. Was it just that Bill talked like that to anyone, or was the warlock flirting with him? 

_[Dipper]  
Do you talk like that to anyone? _

_[Bill]  
What do I talk like?_

Another moment of hesitation.   
_Just say it._

_[Dipper]  
Flirty. _

Well, he said it.   
No taking that back now. 

_[Bill]  
I kinda do always talk like that. But you’re still allowed to feel special ;)_

What was THAT supposed to mean?!   
Dipper groaned and smashed his face into the pillow.   
Good thing he didn’t have to share a room with his sister anymore, it would have been embarrassing to admit that he had nothing better to do this evening than to still text the goddamn warlock. 

Dipper turned around in his bed and sighed deeply.   
He wasn’t sure why he was still texting Wraith. Was it fun? Yeah, kinda. But was it more than that? He didn’t know. He didn’t know what he wanted, or if what he wanted was what he really needed. He was confused.   
Nothing in his life confused him more than love and the feelings around that word.   
He’d never been in a real relationship before. He tried to remember that one girl he once had a crush on, and he even went on a date with her back then - they kissed - but it never turned into anything more than that. He remembered being hurt, but not in the way a book would describe a broken heart. Of course, the way people wrote about love and the pain that came with it was always exaggerated. But he still had expected himself to feel much more hurt than he actually was. If anything, he had felt lonely.   
And that same loneliness was still with him today. 

After that one girl, he never had a crush on anyone else again, but he would still lay awake at night and wish for just someone, _anyone_ , to be here sometimes and hold him. Way too often he imagined himself in the arms of anyone that came to his mind, without really developing any deeper feelings for that someone.  
But every time there seemed to be a chance for him to date someone, he was too scared. 

_Am I able to love someone when all I have is the selfish wish of being loved?  
_

_[Bill]  
I know I’m good at leaving people speechless but it hurts to be ignored._

Dipper smiled a little.   
Bill was different than he had thought at first. The warlock was charming and kinda mysterious, sure, but he was also funny and maybe even a bit of a dork. Not that Dipper would tell him that. Or, no, actually he should tell him that. 

_[Dipper]  
You’re a dork. _

No answer for a while, so Dipper typed another message, grinning - 

_[Dipper]  
Am I the one leaving you speechless now?_

_[Bill]  
No one has ever called me a dork before. _

_[Dipper]  
Well, you said it, I’m special. _

He laughed.   
At the end of the day, texting Bill was just fun. Maybe Bill was being flirty, and maybe Dipper was confused and even a little afraid of exactly that. But still, he had fun.   
But then another thought crossed his mind. If Bill really was trying to date him, and he would reject him because of his fear of relationships, would the warlock still want to be friends with him?   
_Come on, Dipper. You barely even got to know him yet. Don’t think about worst case scenarios before anything has even happened._

This night, he couldn’t help but imagine the person holding him in his sleep being Bill. 

 

* * *

 

 

The same night, at the other end of Gravity Falls, Pacifica Northwest and Bill Wraith were sitting in the moonlight just outside the Wraith Mansion, each enjoying a glass of red wine. Except it wasn’t exactly wine in Pacifica’s glass. 

„He called me a dork,“ Bill said, grinning, „Can you believe it?“ 

Pacifica laughed out loud.   
„The male Pines twin is really adorable,“ she admitted, licking the blood from her lips. 

„Don’t even think about it. He’s mine.“ 

She smiled innocently.   
„Yours? Yours to use and throw away once you have what you really want? Poor boy, if he wasn’t a shadowhunter I’d say he deserves better.“ 

Bill just hummed, taking another sip of wine.   
  
„I know what you’re after,“ Pacifica said, „But considering Dipper hardly ever goes out to party, unlike his sister, wouldn’t it have been easier to go after her?“ 

„He’s closer to Stanford,“ Bill replied.  
His one eye seemed to almost glow in the dark, reflecting the light of the moon.   
He was sure it wouldn’t take long for the young Pines to fall for him. The closer he got to Dipper, the bigger his chance of getting his sweet and long awaited revenge. And getting back what was rightfully his. 

„And? What are you gonna do once you have your eye back?“ Pacifica asked, eyeing him curiously. While she enjoyed Bill’s company, they weren’t exactly close, and she didn’t know much about him. And while she was interested in whatever his plans were, she couldn’t care less about what would happen to Gravity Falls, or the rest of the world. 

Bill smirked, staring at the messages from Dipper on his phone.   
„Unleash hell.“ 

 

* * *

 

 

The next morning, Stanford surprised the rest of the family by actually showing up in time for breakfast. But the reason was not a good one.   
„Murders?“ Mabel asked with her mouth full of cornflakes.   
„Yes,“ Stanford replied, sitting down at the table and grabbing the newspaper out of his brother’s hands, „It’s come to my attention that there’s been several murders of mundanes in Gravity Falls. All of them show signs of having been attacked by a certain kind of demon. There’s been 7 victims so far, and what have _you_ all been doing in the past three weeks?“ 

„I had no idea that these murders were demon attacks. I read about them in the newspaper. How come you know? You never even leave the institute,“ Stanley said, narrowing his eyes. 

„I don’t have to leave the institute thanks to my connections. Well, to be fair, it’s only thanks to my old friend Fiddleford that we know for sure what’s happening here. He happened to find one of the bodies before anyone else did, and recognized the signs,“ Stanford explained. His expression was even more serious than usually, if that was even possible. He seemed to be really worked up over something. Fiddleford was a shadowhunter from another institute. He and Stanford had been studying demons together for years. Also, Fiddleford had apparently been there when the whole Cipher incident happened. 

„What signs?“ Dipper asked.   
  
„Extreme blood loss without any vampires being involved. No bite marks or anything.“ 

„Belials,“ said Dipper. 

Stanford nodded. „Correct.“ 

Mabel and Stanley just looked at them with a huge question mark clearly showing in their expression. Dipper was a little proud that he had correctly identified what they were apparently dealing with. 

„Belials are demons that are small in appearance, but they come in swarms. The problem is, they are usually underlings to a higher demon being. Fighting them won’t solve anything - we have to find the demon behind this.“ 

„And with _we_ , you mean us, right?“ Mabel groaned. 

Stanford didn’t answer. 

„Why would a powerful demon target mundanes and leave their bodies behind?“ Dipper asked. It was strange. Usually, when a demon kills a human, they don’t leave anything behind. The humans blood and flesh can be either delicious to them, or strengthen their power, depending on the demon. 

„That’s what I’m wondering about, too,“ Stanford said, „And it’s why I have to ask you to be careful. It could be a trap. Maybe the demon is waiting for shadowhunters like us to get involved in this.“ 

„It’s not like we have a choice,“ Stanley added, „This is clearly a case mundanes won’t be able to solve. It’s the law, we have to get involved in this. Gotta do our job. At least three of us.“ 

Stanford sighed deeply.   
„Stanley, I have to stay in the institute at all times, and you know that very well. Stop judging me. You know where to find me if you need me. Good luck on the case.“   
Stanford only took a few slices of bread and left the kitchen again, returning to his library. 

Mabel angrily ate up her breakfast.   
„Seriously, why does he have to stay here all the time? You never tell us. I’m sick of it. He’s supposed to be out there killing demons with us. We’re putting our lives on the line every day while he’s all comfy drinking tea and reading nerd books?“ 

Dipper understood her anger, but he also wanted to defend Stanford. What his great uncle was doing was incredible. He was an expert in his field and future shadowhunters would benefit from his knowledge. Dipper would love to be like him one day.   
But he also wished Stanford would just be more like a normal family member, spending more of his free time with them. They always did fun stuff with Grunkle Stan - they cooked together, played video games together, went swimming together in summer and had cozy movie nights with hot chocolate in winter. They were a family. But it often felt like Stanford wasn’t part of it.   
  
„He’s right,“ Stanley admitted, „There’s an important reason why he has to stay here. It’s for the safety of all of us.“ 

„But why can’t you just tell us the reason? Come on, Grunkle Stan, whatever it is, we’re 18 years old now and we can handle it!“   
Mabel was really, really pissed off.   
Dipper could almost feel her anger through their parabatai bond. 

Stanley narrowed his eyes.   
„I can’t tell you the exact reason. But it has to do with Cipher, the demon that tried to open an interdimensional rift 16 years ago. The monster isn’t dead yet, you see. We were able to defeat him and destroy his plans, weaken him and seal him away for an unknown amount of time - but Cipher could be back one day. And most of Stanford’s research is about how to defeat him, and how to defend ourselves against him.“ 

_That doesn’t explain why he never leaves the institute_ , Dipper thought, but still, this was entirely new and very important information.   
„Are you serious?“ Mabel asked, now even more furious, „The demon that killed our parents is _alive_ and you never bothered to tell us that part of the story?!“ 

„Mabel, dear…“ 

„NO! Just shut up now, I’m gonna need a while to take that in!“ 

Dipper was surprised she didn’t smash her cereal bowl against the wall in a fit of rage. Mabel ran out of the kitchen and upstairs, probably to her room. Dipper decided that she definitely needed to cool down, and then he would go talk to her. He knew that this was exactly what Mabel needed. They knew best what each other of them needed at all times because they were parabatai. 

For a moment, he took a look at his phone. 

[Bill]   
_I’ve been thinking about the fact that you called me a dork, and I dare you to say that to my face._

Dipper smiled a little. 

[Dipper]   
_Will do next time I see you. My sister needs me, text you later._


	5. Hunted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper and Mabel investigate the case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thought you might want to know that I have a tumblr now!  
> I'd be happy if some of you want to follow me.  
> http://cipherine.tumblr.com
> 
> -

* * *

 

Three days went by, and Mabel was still angry. Dipper had tried to comfort her, and Mabel had welcomed it, but she still couldn’t let go of the anger about their parent’s killer being alive and out there.  
Dipper was much calmer about it. It was a surprise, sure, but did things really change because of it? It’s been 16 years. If Cipher didn’t show up in those 16 years, why would the demon show up now? Unlike Mabel, he didn’t think about revenge. Of course not. He was too scared to even think about it. 

„Any news?“ Dipper asked as he entered the sanctuary of the institute. It was the place where visitors of the institute who weren’t Nephilim gathered. In there was Mabel with her friends Candy and Grenda. Mabel had asked them both to keep their eyes and ears open for information about the murders and the demon behind it. Dipper liked them, but he was wary around Candy, as wary as he was around any of the Fair Folk. Fairies couldn’t be trusted was what he had learned in the past few years. He knew that not all of them were bad, of course, but he still couldn’t help being suspicious.  
However, if Mabel trusted her, then so would he. 

„Well, no new murders so far. That’s good, isn’t it?“  
Grenda greeted Dipper by raising her hand.  
„There is something else,“ Candy said, her voice being so quiet that it was hard to understand her, „Rumors, about vampire involvement. However, I am unsure about these rumors being true, as they could just be about the victim’s blood loss.“  
  
„I’ve never heard of a vampire sucking a human dry without biting them. Stanford said there were no bite marks,“ Mabel countered, „Unless… Hey, Dipper. That information was from Fiddleford, right? If he actually got to inspect one of the bodies, maybe we should ask him if he knows more.“  
Dipper crossed his arms, thinking.  
„Yeah, we probably should. But…“  
  
„But what?“  
  
He sighed, looking for the right words, „I’m pretty sure that Stanford is right about the Belial demons. But why has no one seen them? These things come in swarms. Huge swarms. Anyone remotely close to the crime scene should have seen them. I doubt the attacks happened in broad daylight, so maybe ‚vampire involvement‘ in this case just means that some vampires spotted the demons and didn’t bother to tell us.“  
  
„You’re saying that we should ask Pacifica about it?“  
  
„Yeah.“  
Mabel groaned. Ever since that party, she wasn’t too keen about seeing the vampire leader. But she knew that Dipper, after what happened at said party, wouldn’t go to the vampire basement all alone.  
  
„Alright. I’ll go consult Pacifica about it, you visit Fiddleford.“  
Dipper sighed and gave his sister a grateful smile. He really didn’t feel like having another vampire as close to his throat as one had been the other day.  
„What about your uncles? Can’t they help, too?“ Grenda asked, yawning.  
  
„Stan is out hunting for information just like us, and Ford… Ford is just being Ford,“ Mabel said, murmuring something that sounded like quite a few curse words.  
Dipper put a hand on his sisters shoulder.  
„Candy, Grenda - thank you both. Mabel, let’s go.“   


* * *

  
  
Before each of them went their own way, they drew runes of strength and protection on each others skin. Runes drawn on your skin by your parabatai were much more powerful than ordinary runes. Dipper didn’t expect to run into any trouble when visiting Fiddleford, but better save than sorry.  
„Stop showing off,“ Mabel said and pouted.  
Dipper smiled a little and murmured „Sorry“ under his breath.  
He was good at drawing runes, and he liked to do his work as pretty as possible.  
„There, all done. See you later?“  
„Sure. Don’t get eaten alive.“  
  
Fiddleford McGucket was a local demonologist, just like Stanford. He was old, and a little crazy sometimes, but reliable. Especially when information was what you needed. He lived in a shabby old house outside the town. Dipper was lazy, so he went there by bus. He passed the Wraith mansion on his way and couldn’t help but look at his phone again, but there were no new messages from Bill.  
In the past few days, Bill had become even more flirty, and Dipper didn’t know how to feel about it. Every time the warlock said something embarrassing again, he smiled about it, thinking of it as funny. He still refused to believe that this was serious interest. It couldn’t be, right? 

When Dipper finally arrived, it had almost gotten dark outside already. _Curse winter_ , he thought. What if he ended up getting attacked by demons? Could he fight them off alone, or maybe with McGucket’s help? He had his bow and two seraph blades with him, also a bunch of throwing knives on his belt. That would have to do.  
  
He rang the doorbell. 

And jumped back when not old man McGucket, but Bill Wraith opened the goddamn door. 

„BILL?! I mean— what— what are you doing here?!“

Bill seemed to be just as surprised, but then he smiled widely.  
„Hey Fidds,“ he shouted, „It’s Dipper Pines!“ 

Dipper was so, so confused. 

„Really? Oh boy, hold on a second, I’m almost done here!“ someone shouted from what Dipper thought must be the basement. 

„I’m just here to visit good old Fidds. Didn’t expect you to show up,“ Bill said and grinned.  
It almost made Dipper blush. Almost. Get a hold of yourself, Dipper. 

„O—oh. I didn’t know you two knew each other,“ the young Nephilim stuttered. 

„Didn’t I tell you? Your great uncle and my father used to work together, and sometimes Fiddleford would join them.“ 

Dipper raised an eyebrow.  
„Next thing you’re gonna tell me you’re best buds with Stanford and I never knew about it, right?“ 

Bill laughed.  
„No, although I do wish to get to know him better. But your great uncle never let anyone close to him except my father and old Fidds here.“ 

Speaking of, McGucket showed up in the hallway. He was wearing a protective mask. He’d most likely been working on a new invention of his. His inventions were useless most of the time, but the old man apparently didn’t know what else to use his genius for. 

„Dipper Pines! Howdy my boy, what brings you here? How’s Ford doing? Want some tea? I’ll make some tea. Come in, come in!“ 

Dipper sighed, feeling that Bill wouldn’t take his eyes off him, and entered the house.  
„Thanks McGucket, but I’m really just here to ask a few questions,“ he said, following the old man through his house, careful not to break anything as even the walls in here seemed strangely fragile, „About that body you found.“ 

Fiddleford stopped in his movement and turned around to face Dipper and Bill.  
„You should really come in for tea, then we’ll talk about that,“ the old man said. 

And so he did. 

 

* * *

 

 

„And you’re absolutely sure that there weren’t any bite marks on the body?“ Dipper asked. 

He was sitting next to Bill on a chair that, he was afraid, might break into pieces any second. To his surprise the teacups were really pretty and looked expensive. Also, the tea tasted very good, and Dipper wasn’t even a fan of tea. He was starting to think that McGucket saved his money for the wrong kind of things.  
  
„Nope, there was nothin’.“  
McGucket took a long sip from his tea and went on, „ Pretty sure Ford is right about there being Belials involved. The question is why the bodies were left behind, and also why there hasn’t been a new murder this week.“ 

„This week? Why?“ 

„Because there’s been one every week ever since it started. I investigated a little, as always, and told Stanford what I know. But there’s not much more I can tell you, Dipper. Sorry.“ 

Dipper leaned back.  
So the murders had stopped the moment they had begun investigating them? 

„Y’know, Bill here has come here to ask me about the murders, too,“ McGucket said and glanced at Bill, who nodded. 

Dipper wasn’t surprised anymore at this point.  
„Do you know something I should know, Bill?“ he asked. 

Bill sighed, shaking his head. „To be honest, I was hoping I could help you with the investigation, that’s why I’m here. Didn’t think you would show up too. I don’t know any more about the case than you do.“ 

Dippers expression softened a little. It was really nice of Bill that he wanted to help. Dipper had been texting him about the murders, telling him to watch out.  
_Maybe he does care more about you than you think._  
He almost wanted to shake his head at the thought. 

„My sister is currently interrogating the vampires. Some of them should’ve seen whether there were Belials in town or not. A swarm of Belials is huge and not exactly quiet.“ Sometimes he wished they could ask mundanes about this kind of stuff, but they weren’t able to see any demons or other supernatural things. 

He wanted to say something else as he suddenly heard a screeching noise from outside. 

Bill jumped to his feet first, looking seriously concerned. Dipper paled.  
_Demons? Now?!_  
„Oh boy,“ McGucket whispered, instantly getting up from his chair and closing the window behind him, „I guess I gotta take back what I said about no murder this week.“ 

„No one's dead yet. Dipper, you’ve got your weapons?“ Bill asked.

Dipper nodded, but his hands were shaking.  
If only Mabel was here! He could hardly fight without his parabatai. Together they were strong. Mabel gave him the courage he needed to survive any demon attack, and to effectively kill those beasts. Not to mention that he needed her healing runes in case he got injured. This was a bad situation.  
He should’ve gone with her— he should’ve visited McGucket tomorrow…! 

„Hey,“ Bill suddenly said with a calming voice, putting a hand on Dipper’s shoulder, „Stay calm. We got this. I can fight, too.“ 

For some reason, it really did calm Dipper a little. 

„Thanks,“ he whispered, unsure whether Bill had heard it. 

„Scrapdoodle. You got a weapon for me too, kid? I haven’t been fighting demons in forever,“ McGucket said, cursing under his breath. He may be old and didn’t live in the institute, but he was still Nephilim.  
Dipper handed him one of the seraph blades he had taken with him.  
„Runes?“ he asked.  
McGucket shook his head, „No time for that. Don’t worry, I won’t die on you. Not today.“  
He took a deep breath.  
„I’ll go first,“ he said, trying to sound brave, but his broken voice betrayed him.  
„No way. I’m going with you. Fidds, you stay behind,“ Bill ordered, not moving from Dipper’s side. 

Dipper cursed loudly as they moved to the front door. It was quiet again. But he knew what he had heard earlier, and it was definitely demon noises. He could _feel_ them being nearby.  
„Careful, Pine Tree,“ Bill murmured.  
Dipper didn’t turn around.  
If he would have, he could’ve seen the small, treacherous smile on the warlock’s face. 

Hoping that it would make him more confident, Dipper kicked the door open and stormed outside, whispering the angel name of his seraph blade. „ _Haniel!_ “  
The blade exploded with light, and its energy immediately revealed the tiny creatures hiding in the shadows. Dipper’s eyes widened. They were here. The swarm of Belial demons they had been looking for. Gross, small creatures that looked like abnormal insects with legs like tentacles and too many eyes. At least thirty of them flying around. Their saliva was poisonous and their mouths would suck you dry of blood without leaving any kind of mark. The tip of their tails was as sharp as a blade.  
They were _right there_ , and Mabel wasn’t. He tried his best to calm himself, but it was in vain. 

„Dipper! Attack!“ he heard Bill’s voice, and it was almost like being shook awake from deep slumber. He gripped his blade and cried out, slashing at a bunch of the creatures, successfully stabbing two of them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bill, using fire magic and trying to burn the monsters. The demons were screeching even louder than before now. Their formation didn’t make sense. Dipper thanked the angel for the fact that some of them weren’t attacking - quite a few seemed to be appalled by the Nephilim presence.  
Next to him, Bill was suddenly completely engulfed in blue fire. The warlock lashed out and successfully burned three of the beasts to shreds. Their dying screams were shrill and hurt Dipper’s ears.  
  
He was a little distracted by Bill, who seemed to have no problem fighting the demons off, but then he focused on his own task again and grabbed his throwing knives. Three swift movements later the demons were critically hit and their ichor spread from their wounds like bloody rain. They dropped to the ground, where McGucket gave them a finishing strike with his seraph blade.  
Fiddles was old, but he still knew what he was doing. 

Dipper was incredibly tense, his fighting spirit was nonexistent without Mabel. He was just scared. But at the same time he was glad, because with Bill’s help they were successfully taking the demons down one by another.  
  
He thought, until one of them attacked him from behind.

Dipper didn’t see it coming. The beast made a snarling sound and buried its sharp tail in Dipper’s left arm, making him scream out. He attacked quickly and slashed off the demon’s legs, making it screech in pain. Dipper’s shirt was torn where the Belial had stung him and he wasn’t fast enough to fight off another one attacking the same spot. The monster’s mouth opened with a horrible sound and the next moment it was completely stuck to Dipper’s arm, making the young shadowhunter scream in pain as he felt his blood being sucked right through his skin and the poison starting to burn within his arm after just two seconds. 

Dipper dropped to his knees and gritted his teeth. He wanted to scream. He struggled, trying to shake the beast of his arm, but it was stuck there like glue and the poison burned its way through his veins.  
_It hurts, it fucking hurts!  
HELP!_

The next thing he saw was an explosion of fire and light with Bill in the center of it, and Dipper’s world faded back into darkness. 

 


	6. Wanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper was saved by his knight in shining armor. Or was he?

He woke from the distant smell of cinnamon and chocolate.  
Feeling dizzy, Dipper slowly opened his eyes and tried to sort out his thoughts. He’d been dreaming a lot of confusing stuff, so it was hard to think straight now. In his dreams he’d been swallowed by darkness and lost his bow and arrows to strange black tendrils that were coming for him, holding him down, making him unable to move. He shuddered. He hadn’t had a nightmare like this in a long time.   
Dipper blinked. Where was he?   
The room was huge and looked old, not shabby-old but more like what you’d expect the inside of a castle to look like. Everything seemed expensive, from the curtains to the lamp next to the bed he was lying in, but it all looked like someone put a vintage filter all over it. The amount of dust in the room made Dipper’s nose itch. Only the sheets of the bed seemed to be new and freshly washed. 

When he tried to move he hissed out of pain, grabbing his injured left arm. Then he remembered. He’d been attacked and injured by the demons. How long ago had the fight been? The poison of these beasts was very dangerous. Without treatment, he could’ve very well died. And he knew very well who was the only person who could’ve possibly saved him.

„Good morning, sunshine.“ 

Dipper glanced at the door. Bill had opened it, peeking inside the room, apparently to check whether Dipper was still asleep or not. The warlock smiled.   
„I just made some hot chocolate for myself. Want some, too?“ 

Dipper was too confused and tired to think, but he nodded slightly, rubbing his eyes with his right hand. He carefully tried to move his injured left arm and gritted his teeth.   
„Don’t move it too much. I was able to remove the poison, but the injury is still bad. You’re gonna need your sister to heal that.“   
Mabel. Dipper wondered where she was, and if she had been able to feel that something was wrong with him. Parabatai could sometimes tell when their other half was hurt in any way. He looked around and found his phone on a nightstand next to him. 

Bill came closer.   
„I already called her. She’s on her way.“ 

Dipper looked up to him. Bill seemed different today, but he couldn’t exactly tell what it was. Then again, it had been a while since they had seen each other. That one time in the library. 

„Thanks,“ Dipper muttered, „What exactly happened?“ 

„The demons fled,“ Bill answered, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, „After I attacked them with all I got. All this fire magic cost me a lot of power. Removing the poison from your arm, too. I’m afraid I can’t do any more than this, it’s gonna take a few days until I can properly use my magic again.“ 

Dipper didn’t know what to say. He was grateful, of course, but also embarrassed.   
„Sorry,“ he finally said, leaving the warlock confused. 

„For what?“ 

„For being so weak. I should’ve been the one to beat them. I’m a goddamn shadowhunter, and yet I can’t do a damn thing without my sister.“ 

Bill was silent for a moment.   
„You’re pushing yourself too hard,“ he said, looking seriously concerned, his eye narrowed.

Dipper didn’t want to hear it. He wasn’t pushing himself too hard. He wasn’t pushing himself hard enough, that’s what. He should be much stronger, and he didn’t know why he couldn’t be like other shadowhunters his age. Why did he have to be different? Why did he have to be scared? 

„What about McGucket?“ Dipper suddenly asked, remembering that the old man had been fighting along with them. 

„Fidds is fine. He didn’t get hurt. Just twisted his ankle a little, bad luck,“ Bill replied. 

Dipper sighed in relief. He would have felt even guiltier if their family friend had gotten hurt. 

He looked around again.   
„Is this… your bedroom?“ he asked, unable to stop himself from blushing a little. He cursed himself for it. 

Bill grinned.   
„No, it’s a guest room. But you are at my place. This is the Wraith mansion.“ 

„You don’t have guests often then, huh? Everything here is covered in dust.“   
He touched the lamp on the nightstand with his finger and drew a rune in the dust to prove his point.

„Hey now, Pine Tree. I even gave you my freshly washed sheets!“ 

Dipper laughed quietly.   
„You’re a dork,“ he said.

„What?“ 

„You told me to say it to your face,“ Dipper reminded him and looked directly at Bill, who seemed really confused, „And there, I said it. You’re a dork.“ 

„You even said it twice. Wow.“ 

Dipper struggled to get into an upright position. He was still exhausted as hell. _Must be because of the poison_ , he told himself. Poisonous demons were the absolute worst.   
„Hey, Bill… thank you. Really. You saved me,“ he said, now a lot more serious. The weight of his failure was still heavy on his shoulders.

„Don’t mention it, Pine Tree,“ Bill answered.   
His voice was calming, his expression soft.   
Dipper glanced at him and once more couldn’t help but notice his bright, shining eye. It was like a light in the darkness and fit so well together with Bill’s blonde hair. He stared at the soft curls touching the others neck and caught himself thinking about leaning against these shoulders, or what it would be like to touch the skin showing along his neckline. For some reason, he didn’t blush about his own thoughts. It seemed only right to think about that. Bill was beautiful, it wasn’t a secret - who wouldn’t think about doing things like that? 

_You really shouldn’t._

Bill smiled, that shining, sunny smile of his that completely distracted Dipper for a second.   
„I guess you owe me now, huh?“

„For saving me, or for the hot chocolate I’m about to get?“ Dipper joked. 

„Both is plausible.“ 

Bill stepped closer to the bed, sitting down right next to him.Dipper didn’t know for a moment whether he wanted to move closer or slip away from him. He was clearly nervous with the warlock being so close.   
„A kiss,“ Bill suddenly said, smiling innocently. 

Dipper almost wanted to jump up from the bed. He could feel his cheeks burning up within seconds.   
„A…. a WHAT now?!“

„A kiss for the knight in shining armor who saved the damsel in distress,“ Bill’s smile got wider and he leaned a little closer, „Seems only right, doesn’t it?“   
He was definitely too close, but Dipper didn’t dare to move. He stared at the warlocks lips like hypnotized. Kissing those lips, right here, right now? 

„W-why?“ Dipper stuttered, fully aware of the answer to that question, but _still_ refusing to believe it. 

„Because I like you, dork.“ 

There it was. 

„ _You’re_ the dork!“ 

„Fine with me, Pine Tree, but what do you say?“ 

The poor shadowhunter’s face was bright red by now. But he remembered what he’d heard about Bill from his sister, and somehow brought up the courage to mention it.   
„I… I don’t wanna end up being one of your many one— one night stands.“  
He could barely say the words. But it was true. He felt selfish for saying so, but he didn’t want to be one of many. If Bill really wanted him— Oh, by the angel, just the thought! — then he wanted to feel special about it. 

Bill’s expression changed again, from surprised to rather serious.   
„Who told you that? Well, I guess I have a reputation,“ he said, then his face changed one more time, now amused, „I never bother to kiss my ‚many one night stands‘, though. But I understand if you still don’t want to.“ 

_I want to_ , Dipper thought.   
Damnit, yes, he wanted to kiss Bill! But at the same time he was terribly afraid of doing so.   
He barely knew him yet, it’s only been a week—  how come Bill was able to make him feel like this after such a short time? Did Bill just want to kiss him, or more? What if this turned into something more? What if he ended up getting disappointed again? What if he wasn’t able to return the affection he was craving? 

He flinched when Bill raised his hand to gently move some streaks of hair in Dipper’s face away.   
„It’s your decision. I’d never do something you don’t want.“ 

Dipper’s heart was pounding so hard against his chest that he was afraid Bill might hear it. He shivered at the thought of kissing the lips that were so close to his own already. Bill’s slight touch on his face had felt like electricity flashing through his veins and left him wanting more of whatever it was that Bill might give him. 

_What if I’m just so desperate for love that I don’t care anymore who it is?_

„Do it,“ Dipper breathed out. 

Bill smiled again.   
„You’re sure?“ 

_Oh by the angel, shut up!_  

Dipper raised his right hand to grab Bill’s neck and draw him in for the kiss. For a moment the warlock seemed genuinely surprised, but then his lips moved softly against Dipper’s, and both of them completely forgot about anything else they had wanted to say. Dipper sighed and let Bill take the lead as the warlock gently let his tongue slip through his lips. Bill’s hands were suddenly on his hips, and Dipper leaned into the touch. 

He wanted to forget it all.   
His worries, his guilt about the fight, his failure as a shadowhunter, his craving to be loved. Everything was gone in these few seconds of their lips being closed to one steady, soft movement.   
He let himself get pushed down on the bed, ignoring his injured arm, his right hand now grabbing Bill’s hair, wanting to draw him even closer. Bill moved his hands at his sides, slightly touching bits of skin that were showing from Dipper’s shirt slipping up. Every little touch was like a shock to his senses and made his heart want to jump out of his chest. He felt himself immediately wanting more, more of this, more of _Bill_. His fingers curled in the warlock’s hair and didn’t allow him to move. He heard Bill sigh into the kiss, and it sounded like the most beautiful sound in the world to Dipper.   
  
When Bill broke the kiss, Dipper felt dizzy and out of place.   
Did this really just happen?   
Did he really kiss Bill?  
He was panting slightly, and Bill leaned his forehead against his, smiling. 

„Time to get that hot chocolate for you, hm?“ he asked. 

Dipper chuckled.   
„So I’ll owe you another one?“ 

„Exactly.“ 

„Dork.“ 

  
  


* * *

 

 

Just half an hour later Mabel arrived at the mansion. And she was mad, at Bill. 

„What the HELL did you do to my brother?!“ 

„Yeesh, kid, relax, I just…“ 

„I’M GONNA PUNCH YOU IF YOU SAY ANOTHER WORD!“ 

Dipper sighed.   
„Mabel, if you punch him for talking then how is he gonna explain that he’s innocent?“   
  
„Wait, he is?“ 

Dipper nodded, laughing quietly.  
„It was a demon attack. Did you really think it was Bill?“ 

She pouted.   
„Nah. just wanted to yell at someone. How are you? Still hurt?“

Dipper smiled at his sister. He was very, very glad that Mabel was finally here. Just her presence made his wound feel better already.   
„It’s okay. Could be worse. Bill was able to remove the poison. I need an _Iratze_ from you,“ the _Iratze_ was the most important healing rune,   
„More importantly… It wasn’t just any demon attack. It was the Belials we were looking for.“ 

They were gathered in the hallway past the entrance to Bill’s mansion. Everything looked a lot cleaner here, and Dipper asked himself whether Bill had a butler or a maid doing the cleaning for him. He somehow couldn’t imagine Bill doing it himself.  
  
Mabel looked worried.   
„I talked to Pacifica,“ She said and Dipper could’ve sworn that there was a tiny blush on her face, „She didn’t know anything about it, but she said she’ll inform us if anyone from her clan witnesses another attack.“ 

Bill had been quiet, but now he spoke up.   
„I’m kind of concerned that they attacked Dipper.“ 

Dipper opened his mouth to say something, but then decided to shut up. That was kinda embarrassing. What was Bill playing at? 

„Because,“ Bill went on, „All the other victims were human, right? I also have to mention that they seemed to attack Dipper specifically. Fiddleford and I didn’t get hurt because the monsters were focused on you.“   
He poked Dipper’s forehead, causing him to flinch. 

„Really? I didn’t notice,“ Dipper said, but now that he thought about it, it seemed to be true. 

„By the angel, this stuff keeps getting more and more confusing! We can worry about that once I’ve healed you,“ Mabel groaned, „Come on, Dipping Sauce.“ 

The two of them moved to the rusty looking sofa in the entrance hall and sat down on it, Mabel grabbing her Stele. Dipper could have drawn an _Iratze_ on himself too, but it would have hurt much more and he wasn’t too keen on drawing a rune on a fresh wound. So he had decided to wait for Mabel to get here. 

The fact that he’d spent his waiting time by making out with Bill was something he _wasn’t_ gonna mention to his sister.

Once they return to the institute, they would have to tell Stanford about what happened. Even though he never leaves the place, the old man was always one step ahead of them, somehow. He’d know what to do, Dipper hoped.   
The stele left a burning sensation on his skin, but Mabel was being very careful, and runes drawn by your parabatai hurt less in general. Usually, those kinds of runes were almost gentle. He gritted his teeth a little, but other than that, he was quiet.   
He glanced at Bill for a moment, startled as he saw the serious look on the warlock’s face. What was he thinking about? And, more importantly, what _was_ between the two of them now? Dipper was still unsure about it, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like it. 

But Bill’s thoughts were nothing Dipper really wanted to know. 

After successfully applying the healing rune, the twins wanted to head home. Bill led them outside and pulled both of them into a short embrace before bidding goodbye. He winked at Dipper, jokingly - or not - telling him to call him, leaving the young shadowhunter with a deep blush on his adorable face. 

Bill closed the door. 

The warlock bit his lip, then shook his head. The kiss had not only left Dipper slightly confused, but also him. He had felt things he wasn’t supposed to feel. Things he had never felt before.   
It couldn’t be that his human side _really_ wanted Dipper, or could it?


	7. Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Investigate and chill.

He wanted to see Bill again.   
Just texting him wasn’t enough anymore. It’d been just four days, and he felt like a drug addict about the affection Bill could give him. Their kiss hadn’t been like anything Dipper had ever experienced before. It had felt so good, so right, so _damn incredible_. It made Dipper wonder whether he had ever known before what true affection felt like. 

[Bill]   
_Miss me much, Pine Tree?_

Yeah. yeah, he did. 

[Dipper]   
_Idiot._

[Bill]   
_That’s a new one. I think I prefer ‚dork‘._

Dipper smiled.   
He still couldn’t quite believe how lucky he was. He was lucky, right? For getting to experience this— this— whatever it was that was now between him and Bill. He would call it a crush, but that term didn’t sit quite right with the situation. No, there was something more. Something that made his heart flutter, something that made him smile and forget his worries. Something new. He shook his head about how cliché his own thoughts sounded. 

„Don’t tell me, you’re texting Bill again?“  
Mabel’s head showed up in Dipper’s door, peeking inside his room. She raised an eyebrow as Dipper blushed a little and hid his phone. He was lying on his bed. 

„You can’t hide it from me. It’s too obvious, bro-bro. And hey, I’m happy for you, if that really is a thing now - even though I still can’t quite believe it,“ she said. 

„Thanks for the faith in me and my attractiveness, again,“ Dipper replied, pouting. 

Mabel laughed, but then she looked a little concerned.   
„It’s not about that. Dips, I don’t want you to get hurt. What if Bill isn’t serious? What if he betrays you? It’s these kinds of things I’m worried about.“   
She sat down next to him on his bed, poking his head. 

Dipper smashed his face into the pillow. It was these kinds of things he didn’t want to think about. Yeah, what if? Would he be hurt? But he hadn’t given his heart away yet, or had he? He wouldn’t mind that much if Bill…   
_Yes, you would._  
Fuck. 

„I don’t know.“   
His voice was muffled by the pillow.

Mabel gave a few pats on his head.   
„It’s okay, Dipping Sauce. Enjoy what you have for now. If he breaks your heart, I’ll break his neck.“ 

Dipper smiled, although Mabel couldn’t see it. He really loved her. There couldn’t possibly be a better parabatai in this world for him than Mabel. 

„Anyways,“ she went on, „We have more important things to worry about now, right? Still got those Belial thingies running amok and no clue what kind of demon is behind this. Did you talk to Ford?“   
Mabel always let Dipper do that. It was no secret that she was uncomfortable around Ford. 

„Yeah, I did. Ford mentioned that it’s most likely a demon, but it doesn’t have to be. It could be a warlock or even a human, too. Y’know, mundanes with the Sight who think it’s fun to summon demons.“ 

Mabel sighed deeply.   
„Great. That means we have even less of a clue now, and a bigger group of possible culprits.“ 

„Yeah. Bill is investigating, too.“ 

„Do you trust him?“ 

Dipper stared at her.   
„What?“ 

She looked dead serious. 

„Do you trust him? We both don’t know that much about Bill.“ 

Dipper was caught off guard. He didn’t know whether he trusted Bill or not. Right now, all he really knew is that he definitely wanted to kiss him again, and that was bad. 

„I… I don’t know. But wasn’t his father a close friend of great uncle Ford?“ 

Mabel crossed her arms, thinking.   
„Maybe you should ask Ford about that. Look, it’s not like I want to ruin your romance or anything,“ Dipper hid his face in the pillow again as she said that, „But I guess we should be careful.“ 

Dipper smiled a little.   
„Pacifica is good friends with Bill, isn’t she? So why not ask her about him?“ 

Mabel turned tomato red.   
„You KNOW why! I’ll never talk to her again!“   
Dipper would’ve paid to know what happened between them the other day. 

„I’m joking. But yeah, I guess I’ll go talk to Stanford one more time.“   
He was curious about Bill’s father, too. 

 

* * *

 

„Nathaniel? Oh yes, we were very good friends and colleagues,“ Stanford said, too busy with reading something to actually look at Dipper while talking. 

„And his son? Do you know anything about Bill Wraith?“ 

Stanford frowned, finally looking up from his book. _Chaos Demons_ , the title said.   
„Nathaniel’s wife died early. They didn’t have a son. I hated that he did it, but Nathaniel later tried to summon various demons in hopes that one could help him talk to his dead wife. I don’t have to explain to you how dangerous black magic is to anyone, especially humans, Sight or not. I’m glad he at least didn’t try to _raise_ her from the dead,“ he explained, „And at some point they say that he summoned a Succubus and was unable to resist the demon’s charms.“ 

„So it’s true? Bill’s mother was a succubus?“ Dipper asked.   
He wandered around in the library, looking at books his great uncle had read and a number of scientific devices, some inventions by McGucket. 

„Yes. Nathaniel raised the child as his son despite hating his heritage. But I guess that was just jealousy. After all, his own son was a warlock, able to use actual magic when all he could do was summon some low demons and using protection circles and the like.“

„Wait,“ Dipper perked up, „How old is his son, then? I thought he might be way older because he’s a warlock, but is he actually the age he looks?“ 

Stanford needed to think for a moment, counting the years in his mind.   
„It was about 20 years ago, I think. The whole succubus incident. And three years ago, Nathaniel died.“ 

Bill looked older than 20. 

„And then his son returned to Gravity Falls,“ said Dipper. 

Stanford shrugged.   
„I never talked all that much to Bill. Why are you so interested in him?“ 

Oops. Dipper desperately tried to stop himself from looking flushed.   
„Uh… I’ve just met him pretty often, recently. And I was curious. He’s helping with the investigation of the murders.“   
Dipper suddenly felt strange. Something in this room seemed different than ever before, but he couldn’t tell what it was. 

„Hm. Nathan’s raised him well. I guess he’s a good boy,“ was all Stanford had to say. 

„Huh. Well, he’s really nice,“ Dipper said, weirdly distracted.   
By what, exactly? It was as if something in this room was trying to draw his attention to it. After a few seconds, his eyes were fixated on a strange, round device he’d never noticed before. Was there something inside?

„Dipper?“ 

„Huh? Oh, uh… I was wondering, what’s that round thing over there?“   
He pointed at the metallic object. 

„Nothing you need to know,“ Stanford answered. 

„Why?“ 

„Just stay away from it, please. It’s dangerous.“ 

Dangerous?   
Dipper frowned, but he didn’t want to question Stanford’s decision. He was sure there was a good reason for it. He always had a good reason for everything he did.

Dipper’s phone beeped. 

[Bill]   
_Hey, I might have found an important clue. Wanna come over?_

[Dipper]   
_That sounds like „Investigate and Chill“ to me._

[Bill]   
_We can get to the chill part later if you want to ;)_

[Dipper]   
_You’re not joking about the clue so I’ll come over, are you?_

[Bill]   
_Nah, I’m not. I went to the Shadow Market and did some research, and I think I have a lot more than just a clue._

[Dipper]   
_Alright then. And forget what I said about „chilling“._

[Bill]   
_Never._

Stanford was too busy with his book to catch him smiling at the messages.   
„Later, great uncle Ford. It looks like I got a clue to follow.“ 

 

* * *

 

 

About an hour later, Dipper was back in the Wraith mansion. He and Bill were in a comfy looking living room that somehow didn’t match the rest of the building. Everything looked too new. Bill explained that this was the room he usually spent the most time in, the room he used for studying and to chill. So he’s not a fan of all that vintage stuff in here after all, Dipper thought.   
The only thing that seemed old about this room were the books. While Bill went to the kitchen to get something to drink for both of them, Dipper decided to observe what kind of books there were in the room his not-quite-boyfriend spent the most time in. He laughed quietly at the fact that there was an entire section of trashy young adult novels. Some of them he’d read himself when he was younger. He spotted Dan Simmon’s Hyperion, and Lovecraft - lots of Lovecraft. There was a table with lots of different books on it, some open, some with a bookmark in it - demons in christianity - one of them lying on the floor. Dipper was unsure whether to pick it up or not.  
  
And then there were photo albums.   
Dipper couldn’t help it.   
The albums were neatly in order, every one of them containing photos from 5 years. At least that’s what the titles said. Dipper picked the last one. It was the only one that didn’t have a final year on it. 

2010 - ———  
A blank space. Of course, because Nathaniel Wraith had died three years ago. 

He opened the album and looked at pictures of a man that looked much older than he’d thought. If that was Nathaniel Wraith in the last years before his death, then Dipper totally believed that he had died of cancer. He didn’t look good in any of those pictures. To his surprise, Dipper even found a picture of Wraith together with both his great uncles. He faintly remembered Stanford being upset about his friend’s death, but neither he nor Mabel had ever really talked to Nathaniel.   
There was only one picture of Bill in the album. It seemed to be a picture taken by a photographer. a postage stamp was next to it, cut out from the envelope it had once been on. Maybe Bill had sent his father the picture from abroad. 

Dipper frowned.   
This picture was from 2011, and Bill didn’t wear an eyepatch on it. He was also wearing glasses. Other than that he looked the same, but then again he thought something was different. Something about his expression, maybe. It didn’t quite seem like the Bill Wraith he knew. But then again, did he really know him? 

„Hey now, you’re not looking at embarrassing old pictures of me, are you? Stay away from the ones from middle school!“   
Bill laughed as he entered the room with a jug of water and - Dipper’s eyes went wide - wine.   
„Bill, I swear to the angel if you’re trying to get me drunk or worse…!“

The warlock smiled knowingly.   
„Relax, sweetheart. It’s a light one. Also, you don’t have to, but hey, it’s a really good one. You’re gonna love it.“ 

Dipper raised an eyebrow.  
„I’m really not much of a wine person.“ 

„Then it’s time to become that kind of person!“ 

He sighed and smiled a little.   
„I’ll try it. But don’t force me if I don’t like it.“ 

Bill looked like Dipper had just personally offended his entire family.   
„Pine Tree, please. I’d never. What kind of photos were you looking at?“ 

Dipper bit his lip for a moment. He wanted to ask about it. He raised the album to show the picture in question to Bill.   
„What happened to your right eye? Or are you just wearing that eye patch because it looks fancy?“ 

Bill’s expression changed, and Dipper could tell immediately that he shouldn’t have asked. There was something dark glowing up in the warlock’s eyes. Dipper was reminded of the night where he had seen an eye just like Bill’s in the distance, while fighting demons. It was that exact look, that kind of shimmer in his bright yellow glance, and it somehow frightened Dipper a little. A shiver ran down his spine. 

„It’s very personal,“ Bill admitted, „I don’t like to talk about it. If you insist, I’ll show you what it looks like under that patch, but…“ 

„No! You don’t have to,“ Dipper quickly answered, „I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.“ 

A gentle, grateful smile warmed up Bill’s face. Like little rays of sunshine breaking through grey clouds on a rainy day.  
„Thank you.“ 

„More importantly,“ Dipper went on, „What about that clue you were texting me about?“ 

„Of course. Did you notice the books on the desk?“ 

„The ones on christian demonology?“ 

„Exactly,“ Bill replied, „You see, there seems to be a connection among the victims that we didn’t notice up until now. It’s a little complicated. And I think you’re not gonna like it. That’s why I brought the wine.“   
The warlock poured himself and Dipper a glass as he spoke. A little hesitant, Dipper accepted it and took a sip, only to find that it was indeed a really, really good wine. Even for someone who didn’t like wine all that much. 

„Alright, spit it out,“ Dipper demanded. 

Bill went to the desk that also had his laptop on it and sat down on a chair. Dipper followed and curiously looked over the warlock’s shoulder. There was a document on the screen that had the names of all the victims in it.   
„Where— Oh, there it is,“ Bill muttered, picking up the book from the floor. Now that Dipper looked at it up close, it was actually a folder.   
„What’s that?“ he asked.   
„One thing after another, Pine Tree. Alright, so I told you that I went to the Shadow Market, right?“ 

The Shadow Market was a place for downworlders to meet each other and sell their goods. Dipper had been there once, but he’d never go without his sister.   
„Yeah, you did.“ 

„Right. I decided to interrogate some people I know personally about the murders. And one of them, Gregoria Jane - a witch - had something interesting to say. She said that the victim’s last names reminded her of a really old kind of cult going by the name The Sanctuary. So, I did a little research on exactly that, and turns out it was a group of humans with The Sight who had tried to rid themselves of it, using Black Magic.“ 

„I think I’ve heard of that once,“ Dipper said, trying to remember the details, but there was nothing. 

„It was about a hundred years ago in Gravity Falls. And something back then went horribly wrong. As wrong as things usually go when you’re not a very experienced warlock and decide to practice Black Magic. Honestly, my father was a lucky man,“ Bill paused for a moment and sighed,   
„When everything went downhill, it is said that the group committed mass suicide. But it seems like that wasn’t enough to atone for their sins.“ 

„Wait… are you saying— A grudge?“

Bill nodded, looking a little tired all of a sudden.   
„Yes, a grudge. A demon of revenge. An _Alastor._ You know how these demons work, right? They take a long time to emerge, and when they do, all they are out for is the blood of the guilty.“ 

Dipper stared at the screen, at the names of the victims, and Bill opened the folder he had picked up from the floor. It was about The Sanctuary, and it had the names of its members in it. 8 members in total, their last names matching with the ones of the victims.  
„Why do you even _have_ something like that— Oh fuck,“ Dipper cursed as he read all of the names.   
Willow, Martinez, Hale, Maynard, Gilliam, Lloyd, Lamont, _Wraith_.  
  
„I was wrong,“ Bill said, „Those Belials weren’t after you. They were after me, but the little shits hate fire, and that’s my specialty. There have been 7 murders. I’m the last one. The _Alastor_ is coming for me.“

Dipper emptied his glass. 

 


	8. Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to protect Bill. Or kiss him.

„An Ala-what now?“  
  
Mabel rubbed her eyes. By the time Dipper had returned, she’d already gone to bed. Cursing under her breath, she reached for her phone, only to realize that it was almost 1 am.   
„What the hell have you been doing at Bill’s place until past midnight— no, hold on, I don’t actually want to know,“ She groaned, slowly getting up from her bed.  
„We didn’t have—“  
„I said I DON’T want to know!“ 

Dipper sighed. He’d really just been that long with Bill because he’d wanted to thoroughly investigate the case one more time, making sure that they were on the right trail. And they had come to the conclusion that using Bill as their bait and setting up a trap for the demon would be a smart thing to do, but Dipper didn’t like it. They were probably gonna do it anyways, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t want Bill to get hurt.  
_By the angel, how hard have you fallen for him?_  
Anyways, no big deal, except for that part when Bill had pushed him onto the desk to furiously make out with him. Dipper coughed.

„Is that a hickey, Dipper? Oh, by the angel…“  
  
He quickly covered it with his right hand, face flushed.  
„A-Anyways, we know what is causing the murders now and…“  
„And you just decided waking me up at 1 am is gonna solve it? What, are we heading out to kill a demon or not? Do I have to put on my gear and get the weapons right now? If not, then let me sleep!“ 

Dipper blinked. He’d been so excited about having solved the mystery that he hadn’t thought about the fact that maybe his sister just wanted to sleep. She looked really tired.  
„Sorry,“ he muttered.  
„You better be. But now that I’m awake, tell me everything.“  
And so he told her about the Alastor and the curse that had been on the 7 people who died, and that Bill would probably be the next victim, as he had no other living relatives in Gravity Falls. 

„Great,“ she murmured, „Then we’re way too late. We should’ve stopped that demon before he killed 7 people. We should’ve noticed way sooner that those murders weren’t of human nature.“ 

„Don’t beat yourself up over that,“ Dipper quickly said, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

„It’s true though. We failed. If protecting Bill and killing the demon is the last thing we can do now, I guess that’s what we’re gonna do. Avenge the victims, at least.“

Dipper nodded.  
It was true, somehow they really failed to do their job, and the realization made Dipper feel bad about it, too. Some shadowhunters they were, too busy with partying and their own hobbies to actually prevent murders from happening and protect the mundane world. Mabel was right. They had been too careless. 

„Wait, if Bill is the last victim, would the demon stop after killing him?“ She asked.

„No,“ Dipper answered, „Fulfilling their purpose just makes them stronger. That’s the real reason why they kill those people. But apparently we’re dealing with a real lazy demon, as he’s using Belials instead of killing the people himself. The Belial’s don’t digest the blood, they bring it to their master.“ 

„Gross. But that doesn’t just mean he’s lazy,“ Mabel said, „That also means he’s powerful.“ 

„Yeah,“ Dipper admitted, „It means that it’s an _Alastor_ who’s gotten away before. One that is already strengthened by one or more fulfilled grudges. We still don’t know what exactly we’re dealing with. Bill is in danger.“

„Awww. You’re worried.“ 

„Of course I am! That doesn’t mean I’m…“ 

„Yeah, it does. Stop denying that you’re head over heels for Bill.“ 

Dipper was effectively silenced with that. He looked away.  
Mabel smiled. Somehow, this crush her brother had was really adorable. 

„Don’t worry, we’ll save him. Actually, why not stay at his place to protect him, or have Bill stay in the Sanctuary of the institute?“ 

Dipper looked up. _Not a bad idea_ , he thought.  
„We have to talk to Stan and Ford about all that.“ 

„Agreed.“ 

 

* * *

 

 

 ** _„Remember our deal.“_**  

Bill was in his room, sitting on the chair at the desk, legs crossed.  
He stared at the photo of himself that Dipper had found the night before. Except that it wasn’t him. _Maybe I should’ve left the glasses on_ , he thought. Then he slightly shook his head and sighed. There were more important things to worry about. 

„I haven’t forgotten,“ he said loud and clear.  
There was a shadow on the wall behind him. It crept up to the ceiling and back to the floor, a black mess that didn’t make sense at first, then changed into an almost human shape. 

**_„Then why did you fight my Belials off that time?“_ **

„I needed him to trust me. What better way to do that than let him get hurt and then heal his injury?“ 

The shadow growled.  
**_„I don’t care about that. I will take the boy’s eye and you will let me fulfill the grudge.“_**

Bill’s eye twitched.  
„You will do it when I say so.“ 

**_„DO NOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO, CIPHER!“_ **

„Oh, please,“ he grinned, „Even in this form, I could easily kill you. Don’t underestimate me just because my powers are limited. If you think you can, why don’t you try and fulfill your grudge right here, right now?“ 

The Alastor went quiet, his shadow wandering through the room once again, a hissing noise to be heard. 

„Are we clear?“ Bill asked, demanding. 

 ** _„Tell me when,“_** the shadow answered, then slowly disappeared from the walls. 

 

Bill sighed deeply, reaching for his phone to look at new messages from Dipper. He stared at the display for minutes.  
„What’s happening with me?“ he murmured, scrolling through their message history.  
Somehow, reading these texts made him weirdly… happy. And somehow he had caught himself more than just one time wishing Dipper was here, wishing to hold him again, to kiss him one more time. Because every new kiss was even more addicting than the one before. Was it that? Was he getting addicted? _That_ easily? Was this because of his weak vessel?  
He wasn’t used to it anymore. The last time he had had a human-like vessel was ages ago. He had lived in his own dimension for so long, and then, when he had tried to finally change things for him and many other demons, the Pines had defeated him.  
He blinked. _Him?_ Was he still himself? The main part of his demonic being was missing, and Bill didn’t know anymore. He was confused. He was _emotional_.  
  
He opened a picture Dipper had sent him the other day, an adorable selfie of him and his sister. And he couldn’t help but worry. Why? Why did he worry about him? Why couldn’t he just stick to the plan? 

Bill bit his lower lip, hard. _This won’t end well._

 

* * *

 

 

 

The days went by, but there was no sign of the demon. 

Stan and Ford had agreed that it would be the best if Dipper and Mabel were to stay with Bill to protect him. Stanley had considered going with them, but someone would have to watch over the institute, and apparently he didn’t trust his brother enough to do it alone.  
„The institute could be burning to ashes and he’d still have his nose in a book“, he had said. Dipper couldn’t help but agree in his mind. The institute must be guarded by someone at all times. Mabel and him, they weren’t kids anymore. They could do this. He’d do fine as long as she was with him, he was sure.  
And Bill would be able to fight as well. If the three of them can’t take the demon down… he swallowed hard. He didn’t want to meet a demon like that. 

Truth be told, as always, he was scared. They knew that what they had to deal with was probably a particularly strong creature, maybe even a sentient being, as stronger and evolved demons developed language and personalities. Of course, the smarter the demon, the more dangerous it was. This one was able to control a smaller army of demons, so their fight - whenever it was going to happen - wouldn’t be easy.  
  
They had been prepared to fight from the first day they had spent at Bill’s place, but nothing had happened. There was a smaller demon alarm once, but other than that things had been pretty quiet. What was supposed to be a protective mission slowly turned into a weird sleepover party lasting several days. To Dipper’s surprise, Mabel and Bill got along so extremely well it was almost scary. They would play video- and board games all day with their hunting gear on and weapons on their back. It was weird, Dipper had to admit. Weird, but necessary. 

And then there were the nights. 

Both Dipper and Mabel had gotten their own room to stay in, and of course Dipper couldn’t help but lay awake at night and consider going to Bill’s room. Wondering whether Bill was thinking about the same thing. The question was which one of them would make the first move. And in the end, it was Dipper.  
He’d woken up from a nightmare, as he did very often when he was anxious about fighting demons. His first thought was to wake up Mabel and talk to her, to the person he trusted most in the entire world. But then there was the problem that he had absolutely no idea in which of the many, many rooms in the Wraith mansion Mabel slept in. He cursed himself for never asking his sister where her goddamn room was.  
And, _of course_ , he knew where Bill’s room was. He cursed himself again for this. His heart started to pound loud and clear against his chest. Should he…?  
He was in need of comfort, but he wasn’t sure what he would actually get if he barged into Bill’s room in the middle of the night. Maybe Bill would be angry at him for waking him up. Then again, they all had to be ready to be woken up at any time, given their mission. 

He wasn’t even in _that_ much need for comfort, as he was really used to those specific nightmares, but damn it - he wanted to see Bill. 

_Screw it._

He got up from his bed and quickly put on a shirt and sweatpants, as he usually slept in just boxers. Then he sneaked out of the room. It was the same room Dipper had woken up in some time ago, after the Belials had hurt him. The same room where he had kissed Bill for the first time. His cheeks flushed a little at the thought.  
_Get it together Dipper. Puberty is over._

The air outside of the room was cool and strangely dry. It had probably been a while since someone had cleaned the hallways. From the inside, the Wraith mansion actually wasn’t much different from the institute, just bigger.  
Dipper flinched. He felt like he was being watched by the paintings on the wall as he sneaked downstairs. Portraits of people and porcelain dolls had been right next to his fear of demons ever since he was a child. Especially creepy dolls. He was grateful that Bill didn’t have any.  
His room was on the second floor, Bill’s on the first. For a moment he wanted to stop himself. This was stupid. Bill would laugh at him for it. Would he? 

He kept going, but stopped along the way. There was Bill’s living room, where they had discovered the secret about the Alastor. Dipper hesitated at first, but then his curiosity won. He kinda wanted to see more of the photo albums he’d been looking at the other day. It was almost 3am, no one would notice him unless the demon attacked right here, right now.  
He carefully opened the door to the room, desperately trying to not make too much noise, and slipped inside. He went to the desk and switched on the small lamp standing on it. He turned around to the book shelf on the wall, looking for the place where he’d last seen the photo albums. He noticed that the one he’d been looking at the other day was still on the desk, open with the picture of Bill with glasses. 

His hands reached for a new album. 

2005 - 2010

He took a deep breath, glancing at the door. He still felt like being watched, and this time there were no paintings around that seemed to be staring at him. But his curiosity won. He opened the album and found, as expected, many pictures of the old Wraith. Hardly any pictures of Bill, but there were a few. He almost desperately searched the album for a close-up photo of him, but he couldn’t find any.  
He thought. At the end of the album, there was one. And again, it didn’t seem like the Bill he knew. Of course, he was way younger on the picture, which was from 2006. Ten years ago. A ten year old Bill, then. He wasn’t wearing glasses on this picture. His expression was calm, a soft smile on his face. Friendly and kind of proud. The same messy blonde hair, a little chubbier than today. He looked like a really nice kid, but he kind of didn’t look like Bill.  
And finally Dipper noticed a major difference. Something he hadn’t seen before because of the glasses. This Bill’s eyes were blue. 

„What are you doing here?“ 

Dipper’s heart stopped for a moment as he turned around. Damn it! 

Bill was standing in the door he had forgotten to close, a glass of water in his hand. Dipper assumed that he had gone to the bathroom to get something to drink and noticed the open door and the small light inside. 

„I— I’m… I’m so sorry, I couldn’t sleep and then I…“ 

„Dipper,“ Bill sighed, coming inside the room, „As much as I like you, you gotta stop doing this. These photo albums are very private. I should have moved them to my room.“

„I’m really sorry,“ Dipper muttered, unsure whether Bill could hear it. This was an awkward situation. 

„It’s okay. I’m not mad. Just stop doing that, alright?“ 

„What happened to your eyes?“ 

Bill blinked.  
„I thought we went over that.“ 

Dipper hesitated, but again, his curiosity was stronger.  
„Your eyes used to be… blue.“ 

The warlock’s eye narrowed, and he seemed at a loss for words. 

„Dipper, seriously…“ 

„Why won’t you tell me the truth?“ Dipper asked, determined. 

„Why do you want to know about it so badly?“ Bill countered. 

„Because I want to trust you.“ 

The words blurted out of Dipper without him thinking about what he said. And then he was confused about it himself. What the hell was he saying…? 

„You want to… trust me? Why?“ Bill asked, just as surprised as Dipper. 

The young shadowhunter knew exactly what to say, but he didn’t dare to.  
_Because I care about you._  
_Because I want to be near you._  
 _Because I can’t love someone I can’t trust._

Bill came closer, and Dipper instinctively flinched.  
„What’s wrong, Pine Tree?“ Bill asked, his voice soft, and the way he called him by his nickname made Dipper relax a little. The warlock was now right in front of him, raising his right hand to carefully strike a few curls of hair out of Dipper’s face, revealing his birthmark.  
„Don’t look at it…“ Dipper murmured, suddenly lost in Bill’s face.  
„That’s not fair, dear,“ Bill said quietly, and then he kissed his forehead. Dipper sighed, loving the small affectionate manner. It felt like Bill was putting words into this little kiss - words like I care about you too, I’ll protect you, I love you.  
  
„Why do you dislike your birthmark? It’s beautiful.“ 

„It’s not. People always kept teasing me about it.“ 

Bill just stared at him, and then he reached for the back of his own head, undoing his eyepatch. It fell to the floor.  
Dipper gasped. A terrible scar was all over where Bill’s second eye should have been.  
„I can’t tell you the entire truth. But I’ll let you know something. My father was not a good man. He was terrible. He didn’t treat me well. And he was much deeper into dark magic than people think he was. Your great uncle didn’t know him well enough.“ 

Dipper’s eyes widened.  
„You’re not saying…?“ 

„Yes,“ Bill whispered, smiling sadly, „He tried to raise his wife from the dead. He tried many, many times, and many different methods. And one time, he tried to sacrifice me for it. That’s how I lost my eye.“ 

He was speechless. What kind of person… what kind of father did something like that to his own child, warlock or not?! He felt anger flare up inside of him, and incredible pity.  
„I’m so, so sorry,“ he said, and suddenly both their foreheads were leaning against each other, and it was a calming moment. A calming moment that made Dipper forget about his nightmares and realize that there were things so much worse than any nightmare he could ever have. 

„Bill,“ Dipper asked with a sudden realization, „Did you kill your father?“ 

Something glimmered in Bill’s eye, something that seemed sad and confused.  
„I’m not answering that,“ he answered. 

„Sorry,“ Dipper said again, unsure how often he had already apologized to Bill now.  
_Great job, Dipper. Way to gain his trust and love by what you’ve been doing so far._

Bill smiled a little.  
„It’s okay. Really. You said you couldn’t sleep?“ 

Ashamed, Dipper nodded, his face suddenly flushed. He looked at the floor as if it was incredibly interesting, not able to look at the other’s face. 

„Then come and stay with me.“ 


	9. Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill fucks up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL, THIS FANFIC IS NOT DEAD

Dipper woke up very early in the morning in Bill’s arms.   
He didn’t want to wake the warlock up, as he was enjoying the situation way too much. He sighed and pressed his body against the one behind him, as if he could melt together with Bill and be completely engulfed in his warmth.   
He thought about his own words he had said the night before, and the words he didn’t say. Did he love Bill? Was this love, for once? Real love? Was this what people were talking about, writing about, crying about? Dipper wasn’t sure were to draw the line between a crush and being in love. But there must be some kind of difference, right?   
And whatever it was that he had with Bill, he had definitely never felt like it before.   
Being near him made him happy, it made him feel kind of complete. It filled an empty space in his heart. The kind of space that he usually hugged his pillow for in those lonely nights. 

_I want to trust him._

But he still didn’t know if he could. There seemed to be a lot of things Bill didn’t tell him. One moment Dipper didn’t care, the other he burned to know everything. But after last night, he really owed Bill a break from telling secrets.   
  
_I want to love him._

Yes, yes he wanted to. He wanted Bill to be _his_ , and he wanted to belong to Bill. He wanted to fall in love, if he hadn’t fallen already. He wanted to experience it, to taste more of this new and addicting feeling, he wanted it all. 

Bill made a small noise, then he yawned. _Adorable_ , Dipper thought. He was obviously awake now, but he didn’t say anything, just hugged Dipper a little more tightly. His face was pressed against Dipper’s neck and the hot breath made the young shadowhunter shiver every now and then. And suddenly there wasn’t just hot breath, but a kiss, and another, as Bill got slowly more and more awake and started to suck on his skin.   
Dipper gasped quietly, turning around a little so he could face Bill, but the warlock was way too busy placing kisses all over his neck. Bill’s hand was on his hips, and Dipper flushed. He twitched a little every time the other’s lips brushed over his sensitive neck. He was _really_ into that.   
„Bill…“ he sighed, wanting more, „Kiss me.“   
Bill’s eye was closed and he made a muttering sound. He still seemed to be half asleep. But he moved his head up and then his lips found Dipper’s, and their kiss was the softest they had ever shared. It was light and full of love. 

Dipper suddenly felt some kind of rush inside him, something that made him want to please Bill the same way he did it for him. While still kissing Bill, he turned around and rolled on top of him, surprising him. Bill still seemed to be sleepy. He had put his eyepatch back on before going to sleep.   
Dipper carefully took it off.   
„W-wait,“ Bill protested quietly, but he was obviously too tired to stop Dipper from whatever he wanted to do. The young shadowhunter tossed the eyepatch away and cupped Bill’s face with both his hands.   
Bill seemed to be ashamed, looking away.   
„You’re beautiful,“ Dipper finally said, and for the first time ever he saw a tiny blush on the other’s face.   
„You… I…“ Bill wanted to say something, but Dipper made him shut up by kissing him again, this time with much more passion. There were so many more things Dipper wanted to tell him, but he couldn’t, so he decided to let his actions speak instead. His hands wandered to Bill’s hips and he let one of them slowly slip under the other’s shirt. Curious and new to this, his hands were shaking a little as he touched bits of skin. He heard a pleased sigh from Bill and decided to keep going. His mouth moved from Bill’s lips to his neck, doing the same to him he had enjoyed himself before, carefully kissing and sucking on it. He tried to find the spots where Bill was most sensitive and enjoyed himself when he heard a small moaning sound from the warlock.   
A hot wave of excitement went over him. His hands were all over Bill’s chest and finally took off his shirt. Bill gave him a curious look. He was clearly awake now. Dipper took a deep breath, admiring the other’s body for a second, before he started to spread his kisses all over his chest.   
Bill’s hands moved to his back, sliding under his shirt, and Dipper understood and helped him to take it off. And then they were kissing again, hot and longing for each other, pushing their bodies against each other as if they could become any closer than they already were.   
Dipper shivered, slowly feeling his control slip away and Bill taking the lead, even though he was still on top. But Bill’s way of kissing was much more confident, more powerful - it was as if they were dancing with Bill as the lead.   
  
But then, all of a sudden, everything stopped.   
Bill broke their kiss. He was panting, as was Dipper, and they both just stared at each other, Dipper seemingly confused.   
„I…“ Bill started, then smiled nervously, „I’m getting turned on by this.“   
_By the angel, me too_ , is what Dipper wanted to say, but all he could really say was,   
„Oh.“   
He pulled away a little, unsure what to do now. 

There was an extremely awkward silence, and then Bill started to play with Dipper’s hair. He pulled him closer again, sighing at the feeling of Dipper’s chest against his, their hearts beating together.   
„Go on?“, Bill whispered, and Dipper wanted to say _yes_ , but he was a little scared.   
„I… I don’t think I’m ready for this,“ he admitted, turning his face away in shame.   
„That’s okay. Hey, look at me.“   
Hesitating, Dipper turned to look at him again, and found himself lost in Bill’s gaze. He couldn’t help but kiss him one more time.   
„I’m sorry,“ he muttered against the other’s lips.   
„Ssssh,“ Bill was stroking his back now, „Don’t worry about something like that, Pine Tree.“ 

For some reason, Dipper really liked that nickname.   
  


 

* * *

 

 

Dipper was too lazy to go grocery shopping along with Bill and Mabel, so he stayed at the Mansion. And he would regret it. 

It was in the late afternoon when he shivered a little and got up from the bed he’d been reading on to get an additional blanket. But then he wondered where the sudden cold came from and took a look outside his room. It really was oddly cold - had Bill forgotten to turn on the heaters? But no, Dipper was sure that the cold wind came from a certain direction. He quickly went back into his room to get a warm sweater and then started to look for the open window. It was pretty dark outside already. The others would probably return soon.   
It took him a while, but he finally realized that the door to Bill’s room was open, and that’s where the cold wind came from. He wondered why Bill would let a window open when it’s so cold outside. But whatever. He probably forgot to close it, so that was Dipper’s job now. He shook his head and sighed, thinking about how cool everyone thought Bill was and what a casual idiot same Bill could be at times.   
  
He went inside the room to close the window.   
But then the door behind him was closed.   
  
Before Dipper even turned around, his hand flew to his side and grabbed the Seraph blade he always had with him ever since they went to live with Bill. „Haniel!“ he yelled, and light exposed the dark figure standing in front of the door. It was nothing but a shadow imitating a human form. Laughter echoed from the walls. Dipper held his blade with both hands, trembling a little. His heart was pounding hard against his chest.   
„Who are you? _What_ are you?“ he dared to ask, backing away a little, ready to fight.   
  
**_„You’re in no position to ask questions.“_**

The shadow seemed to melt into a more three-dimensional form, a black humanoid mess. White eyes appeared where Dipper assumed its face would be, and multiple black hands with claws appeared out of its back. Now it looked more like a giant upside-down spider than a human being. Dipper took a deep breath.   
He was in big trouble.   
There was no doubt that this was the Alastor they had been looking for.   
  
But why did it attack _him_?! 

A terrible thought came to his mind. What if he had already gotten Bill? And Mabel? __  
Is that why they are late…?  
No! It couldn’t be! 

The Alastor’s hands lashed out at Dipper, who skillfully dodged the attack and even managed to cut one of the arms right off with his Seraph blade. The high pitched scream from the demon was somehow a little satisfying to Dipper. He wouldn’t go down without a fight. There was nowhere he could hide in this room. A quick glance to the still open window and he decided to take this outside.   
The demon screamed in anger and before Dipper could jump out of the window, one of its arms grabbed him by his left leg, pulling him back inside. Dipper cursed under his breath and tried to cut it off, but two more hands quickly restrained his arms and tried to rip the blade out of his right hand.   
„No you DON’T!“ Dipper yelled, struggling at full force.   
  
**_„Give it up, little shadowhunter,“_** the demon laughed.   
  
Like hell he would. 

„Shut up!“   
Dipper tried to roll to the side to maybe free himself from the hands, but when it didn’t work, he bit down on the black hand holding his right arm. It was disgusting, but it worked.   
With his right arm free, he cut off the hands restraining his legs and quickly got up, running to the window once more, nothing stopping him this time. He jumped out, being grateful for Mabel having drawn runes on him earlier, and easily rolled off on the ground despite having jumped from the 2nd floor.   
And then he ran for his life. He couldn’t possibly take the monster on alone. He had already seen the weird black hands just growing back after being severed. Since the eyes were the only really visible thing on it, he assumed that it would help to attack its eyes. He ran and ran and suddenly heard a sound that made his blood turn cold.   
Shit.   
He had made a horrible mistake by hiding outside.   
  
The Belials were here. Of course they were! Why the hell would the Alastor come without his annoying little army of bloodsucking beasts?  
  
At least they shouldn’t be able to smell him. Dipper quickly hid behind a tree, thinking about whether climbing it would be smart or not. His plan was to hide until Mabel and Bill would be back. He cursed himself for letting his phone lie on his nightstand. Damn it.   
For now, the beast had lost him. But probably not for long. He tried to breathe as quietly as possible. He had called off his Seraph blade so the light wouldn’t give his hideout away.   
  
_Mabel, Bill…!_  
  
**_„What a pathetic Nephilim you are. Running away from a battle? Hah!“_**

Now the piece of shit was taunting him. But Dipper was smart enough not to give away his position because of something so stupid. Of course, his pride as a shadowhunter was hurt - but he preferred a little hurt pride over actually dying. He checked his belt for more weapons. Throwing knives, five. There should be two more hidden in his boots. Good thing they had been in full gear at all times ever since they had entered the Wraith Mansion. A buzzing sound made him hold his breath.   
One of the Belials was too damn close to him.   
Dipper shivered and pressed his back against the tree as if he could melt right into it. He couldn’t attack. If he attacked the Belial that was only a few meters away from him, the other demons would notice him. But did he have another choice? He bit his lip. There was no other way. Hit and run.   
As fast as he could, he jumped right in the direction of the smaller demon and used one of the throwing knifes instead of his Seraph Blade to cut off one of its wings in one swift motion. The Belial screeched and fell to the ground, immediately trying to attack Dipper’s legs, but he was faster - and, thank the Angel, had a night vision rune applied to his skin - so he stabbed the creature right in the heart. For a moment he was grateful that he actually was enough of a nerd to know _where_ a Belial’s heart exactly was. 

The buzzing and screeching sounds immediately became louder, and Dipper ran again. 

But it was too late.   
  
The Alastor’s hands once more grabbed him by his legs and caused him to fall hard onto the ground. Dipper panicked, struggling full force against the restraint. It was in vain.   
„No… No…!“   
„DIPPER!!“   
  
Never in his life had Dipper been gladder to see his sister. Bill was right next to her, and they were running towards him. Finally…! 

„You fucking…!“ Bill cursed under his breath. He had not given the Alastor the okay to attack yet. Actually, he hadn’t been sure to give him the okay at all.   
Fuck, he’d been thinking! He’d been trying to decide whether he wanted to go on with his plan at all, or if he just wanted to let his true self be dead for good and live his life the way he was now, and why?! Because of Dipper. Because of this stupid little shadowhunter that somehow stole his heart, when his plan had been to just steal his. He would save him, he would— 

A horrible screeching sound went through the night, and it wasn’t a demon.  
It was Dipper. 

The Alastor was right in front of him, its multiple hands held Dipper down, and his claws pierced right through the shadowhunter’s eye. Dipper’s vision was blurry, he couldn’t even hear his own scream, he could only feel the pain of getting his left eye brutally ripped out. It all happened too fast. He couldn’t defend himself. All he could see now was blood, too much blood, it was everywhere— his eye— he couldn’t see—   
  
„NO!“ 

Was that Bill…? 

_**„I will take what’s MINE now,“**_ the Alastor growled, letting go of Dipper, who despite his numbness tried to get up, his left hand covering half of his bloody face.   
_What… is happening… it hurts…!_  
  
„Like hell you will,“ Bill growled, and his eyes suddenly turned bright red, „You shouldn’t have done that.“   
The next moment, Bill himself exploded in fire, engulfing himself with his magic and attacking the Alastor at full force. Dipper had to close his remaining eye. He felt someone grab him by the shoulders and tearing him away from the scene.   
Mabel…?   
  
„I’m here Dipper. I’m here. I’m sorry I was too late…“ 

He heard Mabel’s voice, but it sounded so distant. All he was really able to hear was the blood rushing through his veins and in his head, as if he had been upside down for too long.   
  
Bill was angry. Very, very angry.   
His anger flooded into his magic and made it more powerful than he himself had thought it could be. He would burn the Alastor to fucking _shreds._  
It was all over. His own plan that he had decided to stop was now in motion. It wasn’t just anger that was flowing through his head right now, it was fear, and— sadness? Real sadness? He hadn’t known that he was able to feel such a thing. But it was right there. And for some reason, it felt right. It should have been there all along. The empathy. These emotions. This… human side of him. It felt awful, but at the same time he felt like he wanted to protect it. All of it. The anger, the fear, the sadness. Dipper. _Dipper_.   
  
A final burst of flames and the scream of Mabel as she cut off the demon’s head with her Seraph blade were the last things Dipper could see and hear. 

 


	10. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill fucks up 2.0

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come ooooon guys, so many people are reading this, I'd love me some more feedback.   
> Please? I promise I'll try to write longer chapters :'D 
> 
> Well, this IS a longer chapter, and here's the long awaited smut.   
> Yep, you heard me. Enjoy :3c

* * *

 

 

„I’m okay. I swear, I’m okay!“  
Dipper was angry with himself. One more time he had been completely defenseless just because his sister hadn’t been there with him, and one more time Bill had saved him.  
_It’s getting really annoying._   
He was sitting on the bed in his room in the Wraith mansion and looked horrible. They had wrapped half his head up in bandages. His left eye was gone. What he wanted to know was why. 

The Alastor’s goal should have been to kill Bill, as he was the only one of the Wraith family left in Gravity Falls. Why did it attack Dipper? And why did it just rip out his damn eye instead of killing him? Of course he was glad that he was alive. But these questions were hurting his head, next to the lovely hole in his face. It still hurt, a lot. But after some Iratzes drawn on his skin by his sister, he felt a lot better. He would need Bill’s magic for this to heal completely and quickly. Again. He sighed. Why was he relying on Bill so much? He should be able to deal with his miserable life alone! 

„You still need to rest,“ Mabel said, crossing her arms. She obviously wouldn’t accept anything else. She and Bill had killed the Alastor together. The demon had underestimated them greatly, especially Mabel. Mabel, in anger over her brother’s injury, had delivered the final blow to the beast, while Bill’s fire magic had gotten slightly out of control. And for once, it had been Dipper helping Bill - to calm down.   
Dipper was a little proud of that. After all, he could have passed out after getting his eye brutally ripped out, but he was stronger than that. He had managed to calm Bill down by repeatedly telling him that it was over, and that he was okay. Same thing he’d been telling Mabel for the past 15 minutes, but she just wouldn’t shut up.   
  
„Mabel, look, I’m glad that you care so much about me, but really, I’m fine. I just need Bill to treat this and then I’ll head back to the institute with you.“  
  
„It’s gonna take a while,“ they heard Bill’s voice from the door, who just entered the room with some tea for all of them. As calm as he looked, Bill was actually panicking. He wouldn’t let Dipper return to the institute. It was too dangerous. And everything was his own fault. His own plan, even. _Fuck, what am I gonna do?_  
  
„Really? I thought it wasn’t that bad,“ Dipper said.   
  
„I used too much of my power in that battle. I’m the one who’s gonna need some time before I can heal this.“ Well, that was partly the truth.   
  
But Dipper wasn’t entirely convinced. „You’re not saying that just so I’ll stay here, are you?“   
  
Mabel made a disturbed noise when Bill just sat down right next to Dipper and leaned in for a demanding kiss.   
„Well, that too,“ the warlock said with a grin on his face, and Dipper was left speechless.   
„You… you can’t just…“   
„What, keep you here?“   
„KISS ME IN FRONT OF MY SISTER!“   
  
„I agree,“ Mabel said, having turned away from the scene, slightly blushing. 

Bill just laughed.   
„Alright, won’t do it again. But what do you say?“ He leaned in a little closer again and the look on his face was what one could only call ‚dreamy‘, „Stay with me a little longer?“ 

Dipper turned red. He still wasn’t used to Bill being so… blunt.   
„Well… why not, I guess…“ he murmured, turning away from the smiling warlock. 

Bill, hiding it very well, had never been more relieved. It gave him some more time. Time he needed to decide what to do now. And there was only one person who knew everything, only one person he could talk to in a situation like this. 

„Be right back, I need to call someone.“ 

 

* * *

 

 

„I hope you have a good reason to wake me up with a phone call at 3 pm,“ was the first thing Pacifica said when she entered the Mansion, „Why the hell couldn’t you wait until sunset? It’s not like I can come here any sooner.“   
Bill himself had literally forgotten about that little fact. His mind had been on other things when he had called her.   
„Forgive me, dear,“ he said with a smile, „Wine?“   
„The usual,“ she answered, and meant yes - wine mixed with blood. It was animal blood, but Pacifica wasn’t too picky about that as long as the wine was good. She handed Bill her coat.   
  
Three years ago, when he had taken over this body and the identity of Bill Wraith, he unwillingly got to know Pacifica because back then, she had been Bill’s girlfriend. It didn’t take long until she noticed that her boyfriend had changed, and little longer until she started to suspect that this wasn’t her boyfriend at all. She cornered him by asking questions only the real Bill would have known.   
Naturally, he had thought about killing her so no one would find out the truth. But Pacifica Northwest, for some reason, didn’t care.   
„I know he was cheating on me anyways, while he was abroad. I was planning on carving my name onto his skin and suck him dry,“ she had said, and he found her cold attitude oddly charming. So he decided to let her live.   
And things became more. At first, there was a lot of sex - but it didn’t really mean anything. It just happened to be nice. But then there was a situation with some vampires breaking the law, and he successfully managed to hide it from the Shadowhunters together with Pacifica. That was the first time he had helped her out, for whatever reason. And then there were also times when Pacifica helped _him_ out.   
Before he himself knew it, he had told her the entire truth about him. About who he was, about his plans. And she became affiliated with them, helping him to get to know more about the Pines family and finally, after three years of just planning and getting used to this new body, helping him to get closer to Dipper Pines. 

In a very odd way, they were friends. And a friend was what he needed right now. 

„So? What’s the big deal all of a sudden?“ she asked after she had entered the terrace where they always used to spend their drinking nights. 

„I’m calling everything off,“ Bill simply said. 

„Wait… what? What do you mean?“ 

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his golden hair.   
„I’m calling the entire plan off. Or at least I’d love to. I can’t call it off anymore. Dipper already lost his eye.“   
Awkward silence rose between them. 

„Seriously?“ she finally said, „After all this time, after three years of planning your revenge, you’re giving it all up for _him_?“

„I fell.“ 

She whistled.   
„You fell hard, I can see that. How come you never fell for me like that? I’m jealous.“   
She really was. In the past three years, she had wished for this new Bill to become _her_ new Bill. But it never ended up as anything more than a friendship with benefits. And even though she felt jealous now, she still appreciated said friendship. With or without the benefits. 

„Paz, I don’t know what to do. I can’t let him return to the institute. You know what’s going to happen, you know the entire damn plan. I can’t go there and neither can you, sacred ground and all. I need to destroy the eye, but how?“   
He buried his head in both his hands, clearly desperate.   
  
„First of all you need to tell your little boyfriend the truth,“ she said.

„I can’t do that!“ 

She looked at him, frowning.  
„You have to. He’s not gonna stay here otherwise.“ 

„He’s not gonna stay here if he knows the truth, either! I should just lock him up or something!“ Bill groaned. 

„I doubt that’s the kind of relationship you’re looking for this time.“   
  
„Not the time for jokes.“ 

She grinned and took a sip of her blood-wine mixture.   
„Still, you’re actually experiencing feelings this time, aren’t you? Love, huh? Then you have to be honest with him.“ 

„Paz,“ he said, turning around just to make sure Dipper isn’t right behind them, „I’m the demon that _killed his parents_. You know that. How the fuck am I supposed to tell him that? Do you expect him to fall right into my arms and thank me for telling him the truth?“

„Well, what do you expect to happen anyways? Keep the truth from him forever and live happily ever after? You can’t keep him away from the institute forever.“   
Pacifica was very serious now. She realized that the situation was indeed a huge problem.  
„If you really love him,“ she said, „You have to tell him the truth, otherwise he’s gonna have a  very bad time.“ 

„I can’t…“ Bill whispered.   
He thought of that other day when Dipper hadn’t been able to sleep, and the night they had spent together. His loving gaze. His soft kisses, his sweet words. The morning after when he had taken off his eyepatch and told him that he was beautiful. All the time they had spend together, all the messages sent, everything -   
Everything would be over if he were to tell him the truth. 

„I’m afraid I can’t help you more than this. Tell him the truth. That’s my advice.“  
She emptied her glass. 

 

* * *

 

 

„Hey.“ 

Dipper took a glance over his book to see Bill entering the room.   
„Hey,“ the young shadowhunter said, „So, who did you invite over?“ 

„Pacifica Northwest. She’s a good friend.“   
Bill closed the door behind him and came closer to sit on the bed where Dipper was reading.   
„You hungry?“ the warlock asked.  
  
„A little. How about we order pizza today? This is definitely a good pizza day.“   
Bill smiled at him.   
Dipper was glad that he didn’t ask him about his eye.   
  
„Alright. What do you want?“   
„Everything but pineapples.“   
„Pineapples are the best thing about pizza!“   
„They RUIN pizza!“   
  
Bill pouted like a child.   
„Okay, okay. One half with pineapples, the other without.“   
  
Dipper shrugged.   
„I can work with that,“ he said, „By the way, why didn’t you tell me it was Pacifica? I would’ve liked to say hello.“ 

„Sorry,“ Bill answered with a mysterious wink, „Our conversation was private. Greetings from her, though. She’ll come back later and stay for the next day.“   
He had to stop himself from saying that she’ll stay for the night, vampire and all. 

„Hm. Alright,“ Dipper murmured, and then he laid the book on the nightstand. He wasn’t too happy about Bill keeping another thing from him. An important conversation with Pacifica right after the Alastor incident? Why? What was it about? Dipper wanted to know everything, but Bill kept being mysterious like that.   
_Can I trust him?_

„You’re staring,“ Bill suddenly said. 

„Huh?“ 

„You’re staring at me. Like what you see?“  
  
„Could be better,“ Dipper said. 

„ _Could be better?_ What could possibly be better than _me_?“   
Bill came closer, until he was above Dipper, one hand at the younger’s cheek. 

„How about…“ the shadowhunter bit his lower lip, smiling shyly, „ _You_ , but with less clothes on?“ 

Bill grinned and Dipper almost got nervous for a moment, but then he mentally kicked his own ass and leaned in for a kiss.   
„You naughty little boy,“ Bill whispered against his lips, then proceeded to kiss him hungrily. He forgot about why he actually came here, what he had wanted to tell Dipper. No, he _wanted_ to forget about it. He couldn’t just ruin a perfect moment like this. Not just this moment, he couldn’t ruin what he had with Dipper.   
_There must be some other way._  
I want him.  
I can’t lose him now! 

Their kiss got more and more intense, and Dipper tugged at Bill’s shirt, slowly opening the buttons. Neither of them wanted to break it. Dipper’s fingers were trembling a little, making it hard to actually take off the other’s shirt.   
„No need to be nervous,“ Bill murmured, then kissed him again. Their lips moving against each other just felt too good. It was addicting for both of them. And by the angel, Dipper _wanted_ it, he wanted Bill so much - and yet he was nervous. Would he be able to take the final step today? Here and now? He had never done it before. He hadn’t expected that there was the possibility for it to happen now. He hadn’t expected the want for it to rise inside him all of a sudden.   
He took Bill’s shirt off.   
  
And suddenly, he became unsure about it, and turned his head away. How could Bill even think he was beautiful right now? He was a mess, bandages all around his head, heck, there was probably dried blood on said bandages!   
„What’s wrong?“ Bill asked, cupping Dipper’s face with both his hands and gently turning his face back to look at him.   
„My eye,“ Dipper just said, and it seemed like he wasn’t really looking at Bill, as if he was looking right through him.   
  
„You’re beautiful. Hey… look at me. I mean it,“ Bill said with a soft voice, „I really mean it. You’ve been beautiful before, and you still are. I look at you and I see what I want most right now. No… Not just right now. I want you, Dipper. I want you _always_.“ 

Dipper’s eye widened when he heard those words. It wasn’t like Bill to be so… emotional. So romantic. It made Dipper sigh and kiss Bill again, just for a moment.   
„I want you too, Bill. I really do,“ he said, clinging to Bill as if his life depended on it. Bill’s expression was a mixture of bewilderment over his own words, happiness about Dipper’s reaction, and a hidden sadness over how _wrong_ it was to do this now. 

_But I want it._  

Bill started to put kisses all over Dipper’s neck. Dipper moved his head so Bill would have more access. He sighed when the other sucked on his skin and immediately moved his hand to Bill’s hair, as if he could pull him even closer.   
„Mmh…“ Dipper made a quiet noise, clearly enjoying what Bill was doing to his neck. He was just wearing a T-shirt and boxers, and Bill seemed to want to just rip it off. Dipper could feel that today was different than that other time, it wasn’t just calm and soft, it was demanding and almost wild. Bill _really_ wanted him, and he made him feel that. Bill’s hands quickly found their way under Dipper’s T-shirt. He helped him to take it off, tossing it away into a corner of the room.  
„You’re… you’re sure this time? We can stop whenever you want,“ Bill breathed against his neck, kissing it again.   
„I… I’m sure. Go on,“ Dipper whispered, still very nervous - but he had decided to trust Bill.   
„Just… just remember to say no if you don’t want something,“ Bill said while he admired and touched every bit of Dipper’s upper body. The younger nodded, closing his eye. 

Bill moved his right knee between Dipper’s legs, dangerously close to his crotch, and Dipper gasped, the realization that this _was_ going to happen now finally sinking in. He wouldn’t back out this time. No, he wanted it. He was sure that he wanted it. Bill was experienced, he wouldn’t hurt him or anything. _I’m sure.  
_ More kisses followed, this time all over his chest. Bill loved the little noises Dipper made. He was so sensitive to every little touch, it was lovely. The warlock was still wearing his pants, but not for long, as he was already working on the buttons and trying to take them off as quickly as possible. Another piece of clothing flew across the room and then their bodies were entangled, both of them wearing nothing but boxers. Bill’s hands were at Dipper’s sides. He was still placing kisses over his chest, slowly moving lower. For a moment, he dipped his tongue into Dipper’s bellybutton, making him shiver. Dipper’s breathing got faster the moment Bill’s face got very close to his crotch, kissing him just above. Dipper swallowed hard. Was Bill going to…?   
Yes, he was.   
Bill put his mouth against the tip of Dipper’s dick, _through_ the boxers, massaging him with his right hand at the same time. Dipper couldn’t handle how _sexy_ that was, letting out a small moan and resisting the urge to buck his hips up. He shivered and felt his blood rushing downwards, his erection getting all the more obvious.   
„Bill…“, he sighed, and the other just smiled at him for a moment before his fingers slid into Dipper’s boxers, taking them off almost painfully slowly. Dipper was excited. His heart beat fast and loud and his face was flushed. He was now fully naked in front of Bill - Bill, who seemed unable to take his eye off his body, and for the first time Dipper heard Bill’s shaky breath, and he noticed the pure _lust_ in the other’s look. And it felt wonderful. It felt wonderful to see, to _feel_ just how much Bill wanted him. 

Bill started to lick slowly all over Dipper’s cock, teasing him in a way that made Dipper lose his mind. The young shadowhunter was shivering and panting, swallowing hard once again. Bill glanced at him and smiled, making Dipper’s face turn even redder than it already was. And then he took it all in, skillfully playing it with his tongue and sucking him off slowly.   
„Aaah… Oh, god, Bill…!“   
He couldn’t hold it back. He moaned out loud and instinctively moved his right hand to grab Bill by his hair, holding him in place. The warlock didn’t seem to mind.  
„That’s right…“ Bill murmured after he took it out of his mouth for a second only to lick all over it again, „Let me hear your sweet voice.“   
Dipper bit his lip and closed his eye as Bill took his full length in his mouth again, and he let it all out, moaning loudly and moving his hips up against Bill’s mouth.   
_So good… so good…!_  
„Fuck… Bill, if you keep this up I’ll…!“ he moaned, and Bill reacted by going slower again, not wanting Dipper to come already. The thought of coming in Bill’s mouth almost pushed Dipper over the edge, but he bit his lip hard and held himself back. Watching Bill suck him off was so sexy that Dipper had to convince himself for a moment that this wasn’t a dream.  
  
When Bill stopped, Dipper was so hard that it almost hurt, precum dripping from his wet cock. Bill pulled back, seemingly admiring the complete _mess_ he had just made out of Dipper - his beautiful flushed face, his trembling body, his massive erection.   
Bill reached for the nightstand and Dipper’s eyes widened.   
„You… you had this in _my room_?“ he asked, and Bill grinned and nodded as he opened the bottle of lube he had just taken out of a drawer.   
„It’s not like I wasn’t hoping for this to happen,“ Bill simply admitted. He covered his fingers in lube and Dipper just watched, getting a little nervous again. But damn it, he was so turned on, he just wanted Bill to touch him again, somehow…!   
„Patience, little tree…“ Bill said, suddenly holding up Dipper’s legs and putting them on his own shoulders. The position was incredibly embarrassing for Dipper, but he quickly forgot about that little fact when he felt Bill’s fingers at his entrance, and _inside_ him.   
„Aaaah…! F-fuck…“   
Dipper tried to hold back his moans again. Bill’s expression changed, now slightly amused.   
„You’re used to this. Did you do it to yourself sometimes?“ he asked, grinning, and Dipper turned his head away in shame. Yes, he _had_ done this to himself before, and he was ashamed that it was so painfully obvious. Bill went from two fingers to three pretty fast after noticing that little fact, and Dipper’s moaning got louder. Oh, by the angel, he wanted this — Bill’s fingers inside him — how much he wanted this…!   
„Look at you,“ Bill said with a smile, „You’re a mess. I can’t _wait_ to fuck you. So beautiful… Do you want me inside you, Pine Tree?“   
The thought of Bill’s dick inside him made Dipper’s head spin. He nodded hazily and started to move against Bill’s fingers.   
„Tell me, Dipper…“   
„Oh, god, yes— I want you, Bill…!“  
Bill finally took off his boxers, and Dipper couldn’t help but _stare_.   
Bill grinned. „Thirsty much?“ he asked, and Dipper caught himself licking his lips, „Tell me how much you want me.“ 

Dipper was embarrassed, but way too turned on to think about what he was saying or doing, he just wanted Bill to go on— to touch him, to—   
„Fuck, Bill, please, I want you! I need you i-inside me, please, please f-fuck me—!“  
Dipper couldn’t believe his own words, but it didn’t matter. He wanted this, he needed it, and Bill was about to give it to him, about to fill him up. Bill pressed his cock against Dipper’s twitching hole, teasing him even further by rubbing against it. Dipper moaned and moved in synch with Bill, and the warlock suddenly couldn’t help but moan too, because damn, Dipper was _incredibly_ sexy like this, all messed up and begging to be fucked.   
„You’re sure you’re ready?“ Bill asked, his voice a lot softer than before, signalizing Dipper that there was no reason to be afraid— Bill wouldn’t hurt him.   
„Yes… yes, I’m ready, please…!“   
And then Bill kissed him, and the kiss was so full of emotion, so full of love and _want_.   
Bill slowly pushed his cock inside Dipper, and he immediately felt Dipper tense up. He kept kissing him to calm him a little. Dipper was trembling. Fingers were one thing, Bill’s cock was another. It did hurt quite a bit, even with the lube, and Dipper broke the kiss, biting his lip so hard that he drew blood. He took deep breaths. But before he knew it, Bill was already all in. 

„Tell me when it’s okay to move,“ Bill whispered, gently kissing Dipper’s forehead, and the younger sighed. After a while, he nodded, „Okay.“   
Bill began to move slowly, and Dipper groaned - it still hurt, but it was starting to feel good, _incredibly_ good, and he wanted more.   
„Aaah… Bill, Bill…!“ he moaned, and Bill took it as a sign to go a little faster. When he did, Dipper was starting to lose it. He was _loud_ , and he didn’t care anymore. Bill was starting to swear under his breath, too, moving in and out of Dipper and panting hard.   
„Fuck… You’re so good…!“ Bill breathed out.   
Dipper rolled his eyes back, enjoying every single thrust, enjoying the little pain that came along with it — it was a good kind of pain, an addicting kind of pain, and he wanted Bill to go faster, harder—   
„H-harder, please…!“ he heard himself say.   
And Bill started to fuck into him faster and harder, making Dipper scream out. He was holding Dipper’s thighs, and Dipper tried to spread his legs further, bucking his hips against Bill’s cock.   
„Fuck, I love this,“ Bill said, „I’ve been waiting for this. You can’t even imagine how much I’ve wanted this. To see you like this— to fuck you— Aaah!“   
Dipper loved it. He loved being wanted like this, he loved that Bill was starting to lose control, to moan just like him, to make him feel just how much he wanted no one but him.   
  
Bill buried himself inside Dipper with every thrust. His mouth was suddenly at Dippers neck again, and he bit down on the sensitive skin, making Dipper shiver in delight.   
„Aaah… f-fuck, do that again!“ he moaned, and Bill bit him one more time. Dipper found himself loving the little pain, it gave him the kick he needed to get closer and closer to his orgasm.   
„Naughty…“ Bill said, and Dipper loved the hot breath on his neck, „If you love a little pain, wanna try something else? I won’t seriously hurt you, trust me.“   
Dipper was too out of it to say no to anything at all, so he nodded. He wanted everything Bill could possibly give to him, he wanted it all.   
„Alright. Say ‚stop‘ if you want me to.“   
And suddenly Bill’s hands were around Dipper’s neck, and the younger panicked for a second, but then Bill was fucking him again and _damn_ , it felt so good! At first he was gently putting some pressure on his neck, making Dipper tremble and moan while he fucked him hard, and slowly the pressure became more and more, and Dipper couldn’t believe that he was getting off on this — on being choked. The little pain felt incredibly good, it made everything more exciting, it made him moan without hesitation, and when Bill suddenly hit that sweet spot inside Dipper he couldn’t help but scream his name. 

And then Bill’s thrusts became _faster_ , much faster and harder. Dipper’s face was red from Asphyxiation, but he fucking _loved_ it. He was so close already, so close, if Bill were to touch his cock now he would come immediately, fuck…!   
„Ah… Aaah, fuck, Bill! BILL!“   
„D-Dipper…!“  
A few more fast and hard thrusts and Bill came inside Dipper with a loud moan, riding out his orgasm. He swore under his breath, and Dipper rolled his eyes back, feeling so full — it felt amazing.   
For a moment, both of them just enjoyed what had happened, but then Bill quickly pulled out and all of a sudden took Dipper’s cock in his mouth again, sucking him hard and fast. Dipper hadn’t been ready for this. He groaned loudly and bucked his hips up, his hands grabbing Bill by his hair again. It didn’t take long until he came right into Bill’s mouth. And the sight of Bill swallowing his cum without hesitation was definitely the hottest thing Dipper had ever seen in his life. Bill licked him all clean, then moved up to pull Dipper into a hot kiss.   
„Fuck, Dipper… that was… amazing…“ he breathed against his lips.   
And Dipper could only agree, but he was too exhausted to do so. He pressed his body against Bill’s and tried to control his breath.   
  
After a while of just lying there like that and kissing, Dipper finally got to think clearly again.   
„I…“ he wanted to say something, but he didn’t dare to.   
„What?“ Bill asked softly, stroking Dipper’s hair, and the younger sighed.   
„I love you, Bill.“   
There. he had said it.   
Bill tensed, and it made Dipper nervous. _What if he doesn’t…?_   
But then he kissed Dipper and whispered the words against his lips,   
„I love you too.“ 

_But I don’t deserve you._


	11. Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh no.

* * *

 

 

Dipper was awake way before Bill, again. It was 10 am already, and Dipper had been lying around cuddling with the still asleep Bill for a while, but now he felt like getting up. Last night, after their little… session, they had taken a shower together and afterwards ordered the pizza with half pineapples and half without. They had moved to Bill’s living room to play a stupid board game and had a lot of fun. It was strange somehow, having sex and then going back to just chilling and having fun together, just like that. But Dipper deeply enjoyed what they had. It felt so natural, not forced at all. It felt like they were made for each other. 

But something about Bill was odd. Something wasn’t right, and Dipper noticed it in the way Bill sometimes started to say something, wanted to tell him something, and then didn’t. He had thought that after _this_ , they could be honest about everything. But apparently Bill couldn’t. And it made Dipper quite upset. 

He quietly got up, because he was hungry, and let Bill sleep. When he stepped outside of the room, he wondered whether Pacifica was in some other room by now. Bill had said she would spend the day here. Dipper blinked. Wait, didn’t that mean Pacifica had a house key? They were THAT close? Dipper would’ve never thought. He sighed, realizing that there was still so much he didn’t know about Bill. Maybe it had been too soon to say those three words. But it was the way he felt about it. He was absolutely sure that how he felt about Bill couldn’t be anything else than love. Not just a crush, a flirt, or whatever else. It was more than that, Dipper was sure. Not the kind of love they write about in books or tell you about in romantic movies, either, but definitely something more than just a crush.   
_Why is this kind of stuff so confusing?_  
  
Mabel had returned to the institute the other day, to tell their great uncles what had happened. Well, to tell Stanley at least. Mabel didn’t talk much to Stanford. Dipper had decided to stay until Bill was able to completely heal up his injury with his magic. He wouldn’t be able to replace the eye, of course. That was gone. Funny, how they both had only one eye left now.   
_But why?_  
Why had the Alastor taken his eye? This wasn’t normal. Dipper couldn’t help but break his head over this one. There must have been some kind of reason for this. The Alastor had taken his eye and then immediately started to attack Bill. What was the connection? The most horrible thought that came to Dipper’s mind was that Bill possibly knew something about it, and wouldn’t tell him.   
But he wouldn’t do that if he really loved him, would he? 

Dipper shook his head. Not now. Breakfast.   
  
„Oh. Good morning?“ Dipper said when he entered the way too big kitchen, seeing Pacifica sitting there with what he guessed was a glass of wine. She looked at him, blinking.  
„Hello, Pines,“ she just said, and Dipper remembered that it wasn’t exactly morning for her.   
„You’re awake?“ he asked.   
„Barely,“ she answered, „I couldn’t sleep.“   
Something about the look on her face was off. She seemed irritated.  
„Bill told me that you would be staying here,“ Dipper said, trying to start a little smalltalk, but Pacifica didn’t seem to be up for it.   
„Uh-huh,“ she just murmured and took another sip of her glass.   
Dipper swallowed hard. Was she… drunk…?   
„Uhm… Do you want to eat something?“ He asked, opening the fridge to look for some eggs.   
She smiled, showing off her fangs. It made Dipper shiver a little. He’d never been very good around vampires.   
„Don’t ask me that,“ she said, „You smell delicious, you know?“ 

Well, she wasn’t the first vampire to tell him that. It still made him blush. 

„N-not me. I was about to make some scrambled eggs. I don’t know that much about vampires, but you do eat normal stuff too, right?“ 

She grinned again.   
„Don’t worry, Pines. I would never drink Nephilim blood. We eat ‚normal stuff‘ too, yes, but we need blood to survive. I figure you knew as much. Younger vampires can only drink blood. Everything else comes right back up,“ she giggled, „But no, thanks. I’m just drinking myself back to sleep.“ 

By now he was pretty sure that she _was_ a little drunk.   
_Perfect time to ask some questions, isn’t it?_

„You and Bill are pretty close, huh?“ He asked right away. 

Pacifica tilted her head, looking at him as if she wanted to pierce through his soul. It made him nervous. Maybe he shouldn’t have asked. 

„I’m his ex girlfriend,“ she suddenly said, and Dipper almost let an egg fall to the floor. 

„W-what?“ 

„You heard me. But now we’re just friends. Close friends, I guess.“ 

„Oh…“ Dipper just said, looking for the right words, „I didn’t know about that.“ 

„Really? Almost everyone knows that we’ve been together. What most people don’t know is that we’re still friends.“ 

„Why did you break up, then?“ 

She shrugged.   
„Ask Bill.“ 

Damnit. He had hoped Pacifica would be a little more talkative.

But then Bill appeared in the door.   
„G’morning. Pine Tree, why did you just leave me like that? Unacceptable.“

Pacifica didn’t seem very happy about Bill’s presence.   
„Well,“ she said, „I guess I’m going back to sleep. Good day.“   
And with that, she vanished way too fast, before Dipper could ask any other questions.   
  
„Scrambled eggs?“ he asked in Bill’s direction, and the other nodded, still half asleep. 

„What did you two talk about?“ the warlock asked curiously. But he wasn’t just curious, he was alarmed. What if Pacifica had said something she wasn’t supposed to? 

„She’s your ex?“ Dipper asked bluntly, and Bill sighed.   
„Yeah,“ he answered, „But that was three years ago. We’re just friends now.“   
„Three years ago? When your father died?“ 

Bill’s eyes widened a little.   
„Dipper, that has nothing to do with it. Are you angry or something?“ 

„Sorry,“ Dipper quickly said, „No, I’m not. Sit down. You have bacon in your fridge, should I add some?“ 

„That’d be nice. Since when are you cooking for me, though?“ 

Dipper smiled and shrugged.   
„Why not?“ 

Well, Bill wasn’t complaining. 

 

* * *

 

 

„You still haven’t told him?“ 

Bill couldn’t tell whether Pacifica was just annoyed with the situation or actually angry.   
„I’ll tell him, but…“ 

„But what? And when? Damn it, Bill, you’re only making this worse for everyone!“ 

Bill bit his lip. He knew that, but how was he supposed to tell Dipper the truth?   
He didn’t want to. 

„I… fuck, I don’t want to give everything up,“ he admitted. 

Pacifica glared at him.   
„Then you should’ve stayed the demon you are.“ 

They were on the balcony. It was very, very late in the night, and Dipper was already asleep. At least Bill hoped he was, when he had left the bed earlier. Funny, how quickly they both had gotten used to sleeping next to each other, and _with_ each other, in just two days. 

Pacifica was on her phone. She seemed to be very, very annoyed with him. 

„Fuck you Paz, you’re not helping.“ 

„Fuck you too Bill, be glad that I’m here.“   
She didn’t even look up from her phone.  
„If you won’t tell him,“ she said, „Then I will.“ 

„Hah,“ Bill answered, „Why would he believe you?“ 

She didn’t answer.   
„Bill… Cipher. Honestly, what happened to you? This entire situation is stupid. Someone like you shouldn’t fall in love. And if you fall in love, it should be with _me_. Why a shadowhunter? And why the awkward little nerd?“   
She sighed deeply and came a little closer. Bill eyed her warily.   
  
„Why not me, hm?“ she asked quietly and had gotten way too close to Bill. 

„Paz, what the fuck?“ Bill murmured, but the situation was somehow familiar and it froze him in place for a moment, remembering all the intimate moments he had shared with her. 

Pacifica smiled like the devil himself, and then she gently put her hand at the back of Bill’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. And for some reason, Bill let it happen. 

_Why? Why is she doing this? I thought we went over that, I don’t have any feelings for her!_

He pulled away.   
„Pacifica, seriously—“  
  
„Well,“ she interrupted him, „I sure hope you’re gonna tell him now.“ 

And then Bill finally noticed that Dipper was standing in the door with wide eyes.  
Fuck.   
„Fuck!“ 

Dipper turned around and ran. Bill ran his hands through his hair, cursing under his breath.   
Then he turned to Pacifica and slapped her right across the face. 

„You little BITCH!“ 

Pacifica didn’t say anything, still holding her phone she had texted Dipper with and accepting her now reddened cheek.   
„I only did what needed to be done,“ she simply said, but Bill was furious. 

„It’s not _your_ fucking decision when I’m going to tell him!“ 

Pacifica shrugged, and Bill wanted to hit her again, but then he turned and ran after Dipper.   
Sighing, Pacifica let herself fall on a chair and take her glass of wine-blood back in her hand. Time to drink. 

Bill didn’t find Dipper in the entrance hall, so he ran to his room.   
„Dipper? Dipper!“   
There he was, and he was throwing stuff into his luggage, ready to leave.   
„Fuck, Dipper, what did she tell you?“  
„Does it really matter?!“ Dipper snapped, „I’ve seen enough!“ 

Pacifica had simply texted him _‚He’s cheating on you. Come to the balcony.‘_  
He didn’t want to believe it, but fuck, he’d been so stupid! How could he ever have believed Bill, or trusted him?   
„I’m the only one you want, huh? I can see that, Bill,“ he said, not even looking at the warlock and throwing his books in his backpack. 

„Dipper, please, that was a set up by Pacifica! She wanted you to believe that!“ Bill desperately tried to explain, but he knew just how wrong it sounded. 

„Oh really? Why would she want that? And why did you kiss her? Save it, I don’t actually want an answer, I’m leaving.“ 

„NO!“ Bill stood in front of the door to his room, „You can’t return to the institute. I… I have to tell you something first.“

„Bill,“ Dipper said with a warning tone in his voice, „Let me go or I’m going to hurt you.“   
That wasn’t like Dipper at all, but if Bill just knew how hurt the shadowhunter actually was - had he been able to feel the pain in Dipper’s heart - he would’ve understood. Dipper’s right hand was at his sides, ready to actually draw his seraph blade. 

„No— Dipper, please, calm down, I…“ 

„I said LET ME GO!“ 

„NO! You don’t understand, something terrible is going to happen if you return to the institute, because you lost your eye!“ 

„Why do you want to keep me here so badly? So I can keep being your new fucktoy? Come up with something better or just lock me up if that’s what you really want!“   
Dipper was furious, but he also looked like he was about to cry.   
„Move,“ he choked out. 

„I can’t. Dipper, I can’t let you go. I…“   
  
„Haniel!“ Dipper said out loud and the seraph blade in his hands exploded with light. 

Bill backed off with his hands raised.   
„Dipper, please! I can explain everything!“ 

„I don’t care. I want to go home. Now.“ 

And with that Dipper went past Bill and ran to the mansion’s entrance. He had texted Mabel to pick him up without any further explanation. It wouldn’t take long until she would be here.   
But Bill didn’t give up just yet. He followed Dipper outside. 

„Leave me alone!“ Dipper yelled at him, tears in his eyes. 

„Dipper, I’m serious, you can’t return to the institute. I… I’m… I’ve been lying to you about some things, and I’m really sorry, but…“ 

„Really, Bill? I don’t give a fuck. I know you’ve been lying, and I was stupid enough to trust you!“  
Dipper just wanted this nightmare to end. He had felt so safe in Bill’s arms. He had been so serious about his feelings, so sure that this was something more. Now there were just shattered pieces, and Bill stomped on them by admitting to him that he had been lying. 

„I didn’t lie about anything regarding our relationship! This is about something else, Dipper, and Pacifica wanted me to tell you but I couldn’t, and now…“ 

„Please,“ Dipper said, not looking at him, „Just shut up. I hate you.“ 

Something in Bill broke when he heard those words.   
_Maybe it’s not worth it._  
Maybe I should just let him go.   
Maybe falling in love was a damn mistake. 

„I… I just want to protect you, I swear…“ Bill said with a weak voice, not knowing what to do anymore. He couldn’t just say ‚Hey, I’m actually a demon‘ or ‚hey, y’know, I killed your parents‘ or whatever else Pacifica wanted him to tell Dipper. He couldn’t do that.   
But maybe he had to. 

„Protect me from what? From yourself, maybe?“ Dipper asked, half joking and half crying. 

„Yes,“ Bill answered seriously, „From myself. Dipper, I’m a demon. I’m… I am…“   
_I am Cipher._  
He couldn’t say it. 

„Are you kidding me?“ Dipper asked after a moment of silence that seemed to be eternal, „What else are you gonna come up with? You’re obviously a warlock, I’ve seen you using warlock powers and everything, so what the hell are you talking about now?“ 

Dipper could see the lights of a car in the distance. Finally. He really, really wanted to leave this place. He couldn’t stay here any longer. 

„This isn’t funny, Bill,“ he said, „And I’m done with whatever this is and whatever you think you are. You’re not even apologizing for cheating on me. Thanks, really. Just what I needed. Go fuck yourself, or Pacifica for all I care.“ 

„Dipper, I’m serious!“ Bill said, truly desperate by now, „Please, please stay! Or go somewhere else, just not to the institute!“

Mabel stopped the car and signaled Dipper to get in. 

„I’ll go and see for myself how serious you are,“ Dipper said, and turned to get into the car. 

And Bill gave up.   
As soon as Dipper and his sister had left, he broke down at the front door of the mansion, and for the first time in his mortal life he felt true sorrow. He hadn’t been able to stop Dipper, what now? There must be some way he could still help. Some way he could still stop the disaster that was coming. 

But how?

 

* * *

 

 

„Fucking asshole! I knew he wasn’t serious about you! Dipper, I’m so sorry, I swear I’m going to kick his ass and…“ 

„It’s okay, Mabel,“ Dipper murmured and hid his face in his scarf. He was crying. 

„Nothing is okay!“ 

They had arrived at the institute around 1 am. Stanley was in the living room. He had fallen asleep while watching a movie earlier. Now that the twins arrived he yawned and rubbed his eyes.   
„Mabel? You still up? Oh, hey Dipper. Yeesh, that _does_ look bad.“   
He meant the eye, of course. He should change the bandages sometime soon.   
„Hi Grunkle Stan,“ Dipper just said, wiping his face with his scarf so his great uncle wouldn’t see any tears.   
Stanley’s eyebrow went up. 

„What the hell happened to you two?“ 

„Bill,“ both simultaneously answered. 

„Oh. Do I want to know?“ Their great uncle asked, but both twins shook their heads. 

„I just want to go to bed, honestly,“ Dipper said. He sounded tired and sad.   
He just wanted to cry in his pillow and wait for the next day. 

„Dipper, are you sure you don’t need anything? We can talk about it,“ Mabel said, and of course she meant well, but Dipper wanted to be alone right now. 

So he went to his room without a word. 

_Stupid. I’m so stupid. Why did I trust him?  
Why did I think I could love someone like him? _

The stinging feeling in his heart didn’t go away anytime soon, and so he fell on his bed with his clothes still on and cried quietly. He would just wait, wait for the stinging to go away, wait for the tears to stop falling. Wait for himself to forget his feelings. Wait for himself to forget the fact that he gave his virginity to a goddamn asshole. 

It wasn’t until around 3 am that he finally fell asleep.   
And he had weird dreams.   
  
A voice was calling him in his dream. He couldn’t tell who it was or where it came from, but it was calling him and telling him things. For some reason, none of these things seemed wrong. He felt like he had to listen to that voice.  
It echoed through his head.   
_Kill Stanford.  
Kill Stanford.   
_**_Kill Stanford._**


	12. Dreaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh no 2.0

He couldn’t stop himself. 

His sight was blurry and there was a haze in his mind he couldn’t control, and he didn’t know what he was doing anymore. He could see himself moving, as if he wasn’t in his own body anymore, and it all felt like a dream. 

Right, a dream. _This must be a dream._

He saw himself and at the same time he didn’t. Everything was a mess. The only thing he could really see was the same yellow eye he had seen that one night.  
Bill’s eye. It was Bill’s, he knew. 

Where was he? 

A sudden sharp pain hit him. He couldn’t tell where it was coming from.  
He felt like he was struggling against something, struggling to breathe even. 

_„…ipper…. Dipper…!“_

_Who?_

Who was calling him? And why? He didn’t feel like waking up. The pain was gone again and everything actually felt nice, all he could see was an explosion of colors, mostly red and yellow. The dream was weird, but he wanted to sleep anyways. 

_Bill._

He didn’t know why his thoughts drifted off to him. He didn’t want to waste this dream on Bill. He was still hurt. Everything hurt so much. He had decided to trust someone and fall for someone once, and it had been a mistake.  
He stared at the yellow eye, and it seemed to be staring back, stripping him down to the very core of his soul. It felt like the eye could see everything, his most vulnerable thoughts and feelings - exposed. He felt naked and helpless. And yet he was drawn to it like a moth to light. 

_„…to your senses! please…!“_

_Mabel?_

Yes, he was sure - it was his sister. His parabatai. She was calling him. Why? What was wrong? Did she need his help?  
Dipper desperately tried to focus on something, on anything that wasn’t the eye. But he still couldn’t see what was happening, the colors didn’t disappear and his dream just mirrored the mess around him like a kaleidoscope. 

_Mabel!_

He tried to shout, but he couldn’t. His voice was gone.  
  
_Mabel, I’m here!_  
  
Pain. Everything was painful again and he couldn’t move, couldn’t use his voice, couldn’t do anything at all. What was happening? Where was he? Where was Mabel? He suddenly felt like he was falling, and memories hit him one after another. 

_„Don’t you remember Nathaniel Wraith?“_

_„The demon that killed our parents is alive and you never bothered to tell us that part of the story?!“_

_„It was about 20 years ago, I think. The whole succubus incident. And three years ago, Nathaniel died.“_

_„Bill, did you kill your father?“_

_„I love you too.“_

 

* * *

 

  
Mabel was scared to death. Her brother was on the ground, unable to move and clearly in pain, but it wasn’t her brother. 

His one eye was bright yellow. 

„Dipper, please, please wake up, this isn’t you!“ 

She kept talking to him but nothing seemed to reach him. 

„Get him out of here already!“ Stanford yelled, trying to hold back pained gasps as Stanley tried to get him back on his feet. There was blood all over the floor. Stanford’s blood. 

„Ford, what are we supposed to do? Don’t faint now, don’t you dare,“ Stanley said and guided his brother to the mattress he kept in his laboratory, as he always slept in here. 

„Get him as f-far away from the institute as possible…!“

Stanford groaned as his brother laid him down on the bed. There was a rather deep slash wound across his chest and Dipper had almost chopped off his right arm. But at this point he was going to lose it anyway. The damage was too great - no Nephilim would be able to heal it, and until a warlock was here it would be too late. 

„Mabel, dear - put your brother to sleep. And take him to Fiddleford, I suppose that should be far away enough.“ 

Mabel was fighting with tears, but she nodded and used her stele to draw a rune on Dipper that would make him fall asleep. It wasn’t the first time she used it on him. Dipper used to have trouble sleeping when he was little, and he would crawl into Mabel’s bed and beg her to use the rune on him, which would guarantee a dreamless sleep. He was having nightmares back then, and Mabel wondered whether he was having a nightmare now. 

 

* * *

 

 

Dipper woke up, or so he thought.  
Everything was a blurry mess and it took him a whole while to realize that he was probably still captured in some sort of dream. It took him another while to realize that the yellow eye was staring at him. 

„Bill,“ he said without thinking, and wondered how he was able to talk like that in a dream. 

The eye blinked.

„You should give in, Dipper Pines. You’re fighting me now, but your energy is low. You don’t really stand a chance against me.“

Dipper felt a sudden weight on his shoulders and dropped to his knees. He dared to look around, but didn’t see a thing - everything was just white. A white room. Maybe they were in his mind. 

„Why are you doing this?“ Dipper asked. 

„I’m not the one you think I am,“ The voice replied, and the eye blinked again, and in some creepy way it seemed like it was amused. 

„You’re Bill. It’s his eye. You can’t fool me.“ 

Laughter. 

„The one you call Bill is a part of me, that much is true. However, what are you going to do about it? You’re mine now. You can try to resist and you will be able to control yourself for maybe a few more weeks, but you’re too weak. I will completely take over your body.“

„Take over… my body…?“ 

Dipper felt dizzy. Everything hurt and he was tired, exhausted, feeling used.

„Give in, Pines. Just like your father did.“ 

_My father…?_

„What’s my father got to do with this…? Who… who are you…?“ 

The eye split into many more eyes, all of them staring at him from different directions. The voice laughed and it echoed through the empty, white room. Dipper could see reflections of himself in the eyes. He didn’t like what he saw. He saw someone who was weak, a shame for other shadowhunters, a shame for his family, someone replaceable. 

But he would not give in without a fight.  
He took a deep breath, touching his parabatai rune with his right hand. 

„I will find out the truth, and whatever demon you are, there is no way that a shadowhunter could not defeat you. I won’t give in. You won’t control me. I’m not alone, and as long as I have my family and parabatai with me, you won’t win.“ 

He stared at the eye in front of him with newly found confidence. 

The eyes turned slightly red. 

„You’re stubborn, Pines. You don’t stand a chance. It’s too bad I wasn’t fast enough to actually kill Stanford, might have broken your spirit.“ 

Dipper was well aware of what he had done to Stanford. He’d seen everything, but he hadn’t been able to control his body at all. He could only pray to the angel that his great uncle was okay. 

„Let me wake up,“ Dipper demanded. 

„Oh? Do you really want that? I could be taking over you again. Maybe I’ll kill your sister this time. Wouldn’t that be fun?“ 

Dipper shivered a little. He was scared, but he swallowed his fear. 

„Mabel is strong. She’ll make sure nothing like that happens.“ 

„Whatever you say, Pines. Wake up, then. _You’ll be mine soon enough._ “ 

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Dipper woke up, he knew exactly what to do. 

Too bad that he was completely tied up. 

Unable to move his hands or legs, he looked around and found that he was in McGucket’s living room, lying on the couch. Someone - probably Mabel - had brought him away from the institute. 

Dipper knew what to do. He had to get out of here and get to Bill, because Bill had obviously known that this would happen, so he was somehow tied up in this mess. If Bill himself is not the eye from his dreams, even though he has that same eye…  
He blinked. What was it the voice had said? Bill was a part of them. 

And what was it that Bill had said? 

Something terrible would happen if he returned to the institute - because he had lost his eye. 

A lot of things started to make sense, but the one thing that didn’t make any sense at all was the fact that Bill had tried to stop this from happening. Dipper didn’t trust Bill at all, not anymore, and he was sure that all of this had been some sort of plan or trap set up by Bill. But why did it seem like Bill had wanted to help him, then? 

Dipper sighed. He couldn’t do much right now, but he needed to talk to Bill. He tried to break free from the ties, but it was in vain, as it wasn’t just a simple rope. He was tied up with the whip Mabel sometimes uses as a weapon, or - well - to tie up enemies, because most of them can’t break free from a runed weapon. 

„Mabel? Mabel!“ he shouted, but there was no answer for a whole while. 

Until the door opened and McGucket came into the room. 

„Oh thank the Angel, Fidds! Can you untie me?“ 

„I don’t know,“ Fiddleford said, scratching his head, „Mabel told me that I have to leave you like this because you might go crazy or somethin’. What the heck happened?“ 

„It’s a demon trying to take over me. But as far away from the institute as I am now, it should be fine… I think. I hope. Just, listen, I need to get to the Wraith mansion. Bill knows what’s happening,“ Dipper said. 

Fiddleford sat down on a chair and started to stroke his beard.  
„Bill? What’s Bill got to do with all this?“ 

„A lot more than you think, apparently,“ Dipper murmured and rolled his eyes for a moment, because it really didn’t seem like Fidds would untie him. 

„Fidds? Can you get me a glass of water?“ he asked, „I’m really thirsty.“ 

„Sure thing Dipper. Be right back.“ 

As soon as the old man left the room, Dipper started to think about how to get rid of his restraints. He had to be quick. Mabel had taken his seraph blade from him of course, but she was not used to him wearing more weapons than just that and his bow. He simply had to reach the knife hidden in his boots… somehow. 

It must have looked really stupid, the way he tried to writhe in different directions to somehow reach the back of his boots with his barely movable hands, but then he made it. Cut the whip with another angelic weapon and it should open, and so he did - exactly when Fiddleford came back with the glass of water. 

„What the—“

„Sorry, Fidds!“ 

He might be a disgrace among shadowhunters, what with his fear of demons and lack of fighting spirit, but he wasn’t too weak to overpower an old man. Fiddleford was too surprised to react and few seconds later the whip was tied around him instead of Dipper, and Dipper rushed out of the room. 

It wasn’t too far to the Wraith mansion from here. 

 

* * *

 

 

„What the hell do you mean, Dipper is lost for good?“ 

Mabel yelled at Stanford. She was more than just a little mad, because both her great uncles have kept a huge secret from her and her brother. 

The core of Cipher, the demon - the part that still keeps the monster alive, his eye - was right here at the institute. 

„Seriously, what is even going on?!“

„Mabel, dear, please calm down,“ Stanley said, sounding very tired. They had been unable to save Stanford’s right arm. A witch had been here earlier to take care of it and amputate it. Stanford was in a weakened state, but not bad enough for Mabel apparently to not yell at him at the top of her lungs. 

„Why did you never tell us about this? Why even is this thing here! Why didn’t you just destroy it?!“ 

„We tried!“ Stanford coughed, „There is no way to destroy it. This was the safest way to make sure Cipher would never come back. But some idiot out there must have been dumb enough to summon the demon, and now Dipper is…“ 

„Is what? Gone? Is that what you’re trying to say? Because you will shut your mouth right there. Just because some stupid demon possessed him once doesn’t mean I’m gonna let go of my brother. There _has_ to be some way to stop this from happening!“

„Mabel, we didn’t tell you two because we wanted you to stay away from that thing. However, neither of us knew that Cipher is able to possess someone just like that… That monster shouldn’t be able to do that. He should only be able to possess people through being summoned and offered some kind of deal.“  
Stanley really did sound incredibly tired, and he was hiding the fact that he had cried over Dipper before. It made Mabel furious that both of them were acting like there was no way to save Dipper. 

„But this happened before,“ Stanford said weakly, „Remember when Cipher ripped out Alexander’s eye during the battle and suddenly he was possessed? Cipher might be able to possess anyone who only has one eye…“ 

That statement made Mabel’s head spin.  
Dipper had lost his eye.  
_Bill_ only had one eye. 

Alexander… The name of her father being so casually mentioned when they usually never talked about him made Mabel shiver a little. It was this combined with the worry about Dipper that made her tear up. 

„There’s got to be something we can do… Isn’t it safe if we just move to another institute, Dipper and me?“ 

„I have no idea,“ Stanford said, „I’ve studied Cipher for many, many years now, but there are little to no records of people surviving being possessed by him. Mabel… I’m… I’m so sorry.“ 

Mabel sobbed, turning around so she wouldn’t have to face them while crying. 

„You better be.“ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look who's back hahahah uuuh sorry for the long waiting time, sorry for the short chapter, and sorry for so many breaks / jumps in this chapter I guess. 
> 
> The next chapter will be up soon, it's already finished and just has to be beta'd.


	13. To be Honest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Real Talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No comments for my last chapter?  
> I'm heartbroken.

* * *

 

 

Bill’s back crashed against the door, effectively closing it behind him.  
Dipper’s knife was at his throat. 

„So how about you fucking talk,“ Dipper said, but as much as he tried to sound tough, he was actually scared. And Bill could see that. 

„First of all, I’ve tried to tell you everything before - you didn’t listen,“ the blonde said, „And second, if you’re trying to intimidate me, it’s not working. Your hand is trembling. You don’t have the guts to slice my throat. You don’t even really want to do it.“ 

It hurt Dipper that Bill was right.  
He couldn’t possibly kill him, not after everything that had happened between them, and also because he still didn’t know the truth. 

„You used me. I don’t know for what, but you used me for some sort of plan. You’re a demon,“ Dipper said, slowly removing the knife from Bill’s skin but staying wary.  
  
„No shit Dipper. That’s exactly what I told you before you left yesterday.“ 

„Why? Why did you know this would happen? What is your role in this mess? Why do you have the eyes of the demon possessing me? He said you’re a part of him. So why should I trust you? I should kill you while I have the chance.“  
Dipper took a step back. Being too close to Bill made him remember things he didn’t want to remember. His touch, his kisses… none of it had been real. A demon. Bill was a goddamn demon. 

„If I’ll explain everything to you, will you actually listen and do what I tell you to do this time?“ 

„Why the fuck should I?“ 

„Because I’m the only one who can help you now. Because I am a part of Cipher.“ 

„Cipher?!“

Bill looked surprised. 

„I thought… I thought you knew already.“ 

Dipper didn’t know what to feel in this moment. Everything was there at the same time - fear, sadness, anger and hatred. He took another step back, tears of rage in the corners of his eyes. 

„You… you killed my parents…“ he said, and as if he couldn’t believe it, he repeated the words - „You killed my parents!“ 

Bill sighed and looked away. 

„I did. Cipher did… but that’s no excuse. I’m still him. And I’m… I’m sorry.“ 

„You’re sorry?! Do you think that will make it any better?“ 

He was so fucking hurt. He lost his first love to the demon that killed his parents. How much worse could things possibly get? He was angry, very angry, and if he couldn’t kill Bill, he at least wanted to hurt him in some way. 

The fingers around his knife tightened. 

„Dipper, please, don’t get too emotional—“

„You fucking killed my parents and you have the nerve to tell me to not get emotional?“ 

His memories of his parents were vague. They died when Dipper and Mabel were still so young. All he had ever known is that they died as heroes, preventing Cipher from opening a portal to the demon world. Cipher was a monster. Cipher was what Dipper’s nightmares were made of. And Cipher was right in front of him. 

He looked at Bill, his expression full of rage. 

Bill looked panicked.  
„Dipper, try to calm down, please…!“ 

Too late. 

The more anger filled Dipper’s heart, the more he could feel himself slip away, away from his body and his own senses. Before he knew it, he could see himself attacking Bill, tumbling to the ground with him. 

_Wait, no! That’s not me!_

„Dipper, snap out of it!“ Bill yelled, trying to get the other’s hands off his throat. Dipper was trying to choke him. 

Until Cipher noticed that he wasn’t unarmed. 

Bill’s eyes widened and he quickly rammed his knee right in Dipper’s stomach, making him groan in pain, and rolled away. He got up from the floor and ran. 

„Run away all you want. I’ll get you sooner or later,“ Cipher said with Dipper’s voice, his bright yellow eye widening as he grinned, a grin of anticipation. 

_Stop! Give my body back!_

How was Cipher able to take over? Was it because Bill himself was part Cipher? Why were they fighting? The questions ran over Dipper’s mind, but he couldn’t think clearly, and he couldn’t do a thing - he wasn’t himself. 

Cipher started to go after Bill. Weirdly enough, he was able to smell him like a demon, even though he was using a shadowhunter’s body. 

„If you think I’m stupid enough to run into a magic circle, you’re mistaken,“ Cipher yelled and followed Bill’s scent through the mansion. 

Bill had fled to his library, and drawing a circle was exactly what he was about to do. But he wasn’t fast enough. 

„Stay back!“ Bill yelled and used his magic to put his hands on fire, ready to attack. 

„Why so scared? Shouldn’t we be able to talk this out, _Bill_?“ 

„Yeah, no, let’s not do that. You’re here to kill me, not to talk. Don’t take yourself for a fool.“ 

„Fair enough,“ Cipher said and his grin grew wider, „But what are you gonna do now? You can’t attack me, can you? It will hurt your beloved human. How _tragic_.“ 

Bill bit his lip.  
It was true, he couldn’t do anything at all. He couldn’t hurt Dipper. Cipher would kill him unless Dipper was able to break free from his influence. It shouldn’t be that strong anyways - it were Dipper’s uncontrolled emotions that made it easier for the demon to take over. 

„I’ll fight you if I have to,“ Bill said. 

Cipher’s eyes grew wide, his expression manic.

„Then let’s have some _fun_!“

„Paz, NOW!“ Bill yelled, and in the next second Pacifica bounced at Dipper’s body, entangled her hand in his brown curls, yanked his head back and sank her bared teeth right into the sensitive skin. 

Cipher screamed, struggling against the vampire, but Pacifica drank fast and drained Dipper’s body of its energy along with his blood. The demon sank to his knees with Pacifica’s fangs still buried in his neck. 

„I’ll get you…“ Cipher said quietly, still grinning even though his control slipped away again, „I’ll get you all, sooner or later!“ 

Dipper’s body slumped to the floor. Bill tried to quickly catch him, but failed to do so. He put Dipper in an upright position, holding his back. The young shadowhunter was crying. 

„Thank you, Paz,“ Bill said, his eye fixated on Dipper though. 

„It was hard to let go. He really does taste very sweet,“ she answered with a shrug, taking a napkin out of her pocket to clean her bloody mouth. If she weren’t as experienced and old as she was, she would’ve probably killed Dipper. 

Dipper was shaking and crying. His sobs were heartbreaking. Bill moved his right hand to the other’s face to wipe away some of the tears. 

„Let me go…“ Dipper sobbed. 

„No,“ Bill simply answered, „You need help.“ 

„I don’t need you!“ 

„You do.“ 

It only made Dipper cry harder, because something inside him said _yes, you do need Bill_. And something made him feel safe in his arms, despite everything that had happened. Bill’s touch hurt as much as it felt good. He couldn’t say another word - everything just drowned in his tears. He was in a very weak state, having lost a lot of blood. But he was grateful to Pacifica for stopping the demon inside of him. 

He had actually been scared for Bill’s life.  
How ironic.

„I’ll tell you the entire truth, Dipper,“ he heard Bill say as he slowly drifted away, „Please listen to me, okay?“ 

 

* * *

 

 

„Do you realize now that you can’t run from me? You might just as well give up now. You won’t be as lucky next time.“  
Cipher’s voice came from every direction as it did in Dipper’s first dream, and he was already tired of it. He was tired of this entire situation. So tired that he was almost, almost ready to actually give in to the demon. 

But he wouldn’t. 

„Mabel needs me. I’m not going anywhere without her - neither in life nor death,“ Dipper said with the confidence he didn’t really have. 

He was cowering at the ground of the white room. Even his dream-self was crying. Everything had been too much. He was possessed by the murderer of his parents, and Bill was a part of him, and yet he had been so terribly scared when Cipher had attacked Bill. 

„No problem, Pines. You can follow your sister to death once I have a new vessel. But for now I need you, and it won’t take long until I’m completely in control.“ 

„But it _will_ take some time. Enough time for me to figure out a solution.“ 

„There is no solution. There is no way out. Once possessed by me, you’re mine. Unless you’re trying to kill me, which would be hilarious to watch,“ the demon laughed. 

„But you admit that there’s a way to kill you, huh?“ Dipper murmured. He had stopped caring about the tears running down his face. This demon probably knew all of his emotions and fears, every little thing about him - there was no point in trying to hide his tears. Dipper didn’t know how to go on, but something told him that he had to go on.  
_Mabel,_ he thought.  
_I have to keep it up for her._  
_She’s my parabatai._  
 _She’ll die of sadness when I’m gone._

„That’s too sweet. That parabatai bond of you shadowhunters, it’s something I’ve come to enjoy in the past few centuries. Ripping these bonds apart is so much fun to watch.“ 

Dipper didn’t say anything. The demon was just taunting him, trying to get him to give himself up somehow. He wouldn’t succeed. Dipper wasn’t broken, not yet. 

There must be some way out of this. 

And maybe Bill knew the way. 

 

* * *

 

 

When Dipper woke up again, he immediately recognized Bill’s room, and he cursed Bill for putting him in that bed. He didn’t want to remember what had happened here. He felt sick at the thought, and at the same time he felt ashamed, because some part of him still told him  ' _but you enjoyed it so much_.'   
He sighed, trying to get in an upright position but falling right back into the bed, feeling way too weak. 

„They didn’t even get someone to heal me? Thanks for nothing,“ Dipper murmured and cursed quietly as he tried to get up again. Pacifica had meant well, and it had worked out perfectly, but he was so fucking done with waking up injured in Bill’s mansion and being unable to do anything. 

„Bill? Bill!“ he shouted. 

No answer. 

Dipper smashed his head into the pillow and groaned. Great. They really shouldn’t leave him unsupervised at the moment. 

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door opened and Pacifica took a look into the room. 

„Oh,“ she said when she saw Dipper, then turned around to shout through the hallway,  
„He’s awake!“ 

„Thanks,“ Dipper muttered and rolled his eyes. By the angel, he was just so done with everything. 

„How are you?“ Pacifica asked, but sounded like she didn’t really care. 

„Great, thanks for asking,“ Dipper answered, „I mean, I can’t move, but at least I was tasty huh?“ 

„Hey, I saved you there.“ 

„You just wanted to save Bill.“ 

„Exactly. Now shut your mouth, he’s got a lot to explain to you.“ 

Dipper had liked Pacifica a lot more before he had learned that she was _that_ close to Bill. But then it hit him with horror that this might be jealousy.  
_Fuck no.  
I’m not jealous, I’m just upset because she almost sucked me dry. _

He could hear hurried footsteps outside the room, and then Bill came running to him. The blonde awkwardly stopped when he noticed Dipper’s raised eyebrows. 

„I… I was worried,“ he just said, and looked away, sighing deeply, „I guess you’re… okay?“ 

„As okay as I can be after this,“ Dipper replied. 

„So you’re ready for the entire story?“ 

Pacifica shook her head and decided to leave without another word. Dipper wished she would’ve stayed, because he sure as hell didn’t feel comfortable alone with Bill in this room. 

„Sure,“ Dipper said, „Bring it on.“ 

Bill seemed kind of baffled by the amount of sarcasm in Dipper’s voice.

„Alright then, where do I start… I already explained to you that I’m a part of Cipher. But that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m entirely him — as you might have noticed, he tried to kill me. More about that later… For now, let’s talk about what happened 3 years ago.“ 

„You mean when your so-called father died?“ Dipper asked, „You killed Nathaniel Wraith, didn’t you?“ 

„Not… directly. Nathaniel Wraith tried to raise his wife from the dead. That much is true. What you don’t know yet is that once he was in a total state of despair and didn’t know any other solution, he tried to call upon Cipher. Cipher can fulfill any wish if he gets a vessel or some other kind of offering in return. Wraith offered his own son.“ 

Dipper swallowed hard. 

The real Bill must have had a tough life with a father like that. 

„However, Wraith didn’t specify his wish. So what Cipher did in return for the body of his son was to literally raise his wife from the dead, as some kind of zombie. It was his own dead wife that killed Nathaniel.“ 

„Fuck,“ Dipper cursed. He was finally able to sit upright.  
  
„Yeah. And from that day on, I was Bill Wraith.“ 

„But what’s the difference between you and Cipher now?“ 

Bill sighed. He didn’t dare to look at Dipper. 

„There was none at first. But because I’m just a part of Cipher, just a spawn of him you could say… and because I’m possessing a partly human body. A body with emotions, you know. We demons don’t have them, so when possessing someone, it’s always a new experience.“ 

„So you… changed…?“ 

„Yeah. I changed,“ Bill paused and looked at Dipper with concern in his eyes, „…you changed me.“ 

Dipper looked away immediately. 

„Shut up. Don’t say things like that. You can’t manipulate me any more than you already have.“ 

„But I mean it,“ Bill insisted, looking kind of desperate now, „I meant everything. That I want to be with you, that you’re beautiful the way you are, that… that I love you.“

„You don’t! You used me!“ Dipper yelled. 

„I did. Everything was my plan. That you lose your eye and try to kill Stanford… All of that was my - Cipher’s - plan. But you changed me, and then I wanted to stop everything and—“

„All of that is your fault?!“ 

„Yes, it is, but still—“

„But still what? You expect me to fall into your arms?“ 

„I just want to protect you from what’s coming!“ 

Dipper went quiet after that. 

„Please,“ Bill said, „Please just let me protect you from now on. I don’t expect you to love me. Hate me all you want, but let me help you. I’m the only one who can help you  _because_ I am Cipher.“ 

„I’m sure there’s some other way. You should leave me alone.“ 

„No, Dipper,“ Bill sighed deeply and leaned against the wall, „That’s the tricky thing about chaos demons you shadowhunters don’t know. They can only kill themselves.“ 

 


End file.
